Wizards point guard John Wall post up Kings rookie point guard De'Aaron Fox
Washington D.C. – John Wall post 23 points and 9 assist and Marcin Gortat added 18 points and 7 rebounds as the Washington Wizards (8-5) won their third straight defeating the Sacramento Kings (3-10) 110-92.
Kings guard George Hill got things started with a three capitalizing off the sluggish Wizards defense. Wall answered with back to back three pointers looking to spark Washington. The Kings went inside to Zach Randolph (7 first quarter points) and Willie Cauley-Stein (4 first quarter points) repeatedly and when they didn’t score, Bogdan Bogdanovic made them pay from the outside. Outside Wall, the Wizards struggled to get things going offensively and struggled even more containing Kings guard George Hill who scored 13 points in the quarter to give the Kings a 32-25 lead after one.
Meeks scored the Wizards first four points and Oubre scored on an offensive put back to cut the Kings lead to one, 32-31 early in the second. Washington’s bench showed their value. Going on a 7-2 run behind a hot Mike Scott and relentless Kelly Oubre Jr to give the Wizards a 38-34 lead at the 8:38 mark. However, the young Kings wouldn’t go away. Led by Buddy Hield and Skal Labissiere, Sacramento once again took the lead 43-40 due to a 9-2 run off multiple Wizards turnovers. Enter John Wall, Otto Porter and Brad Beal. The trio combined for 15 points to close out the half, giving the Wizards a 57-51 lead.
Start of the second half saw a continuation of the effortless scoring from Washington. Behind an aggressive Beal and Gortat, the Wizards started the second half on a 13-5 run to take a 70-56 lead at the 8:15 mark. Sacramento guard and former Wizard Garrett Temple answered the run solo, scoring 8 points in the quarter, yet, the combination of Wall and Gortat scoring inside overwhelmed the Kings.
Otto Porter Jr scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, Brad Beal almost finished with a triple double, posting 14 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assist and Mike Scott (15 points, 5 rebounds) and Kelly Oubre jr (12 points, 8 rebounds) combined for 27 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
George Hill led the Kings with 16 points while Zach Randolph and Buddy Hield both added 12 points respectively.
Washington held Sacramento to 40.5 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded the Kings 50-34. Wizards also shot 91 percent from the line and only turned the ball over 12 times for the game.
Washington will hit the road to take on the 6-7 Miami Heat tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.
