It's no secret that this current home stand for Washington is important, as they hosted the Magic last night at Capital One Arena. The Wizards were able to take care of business, beating Orlando 100-90. They got a tremendous boost from their bench last night, outscoring the Magic counterparts 59-20.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 23 points, he was the only starter to score in double figures. Thomas Bryant had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, Jabari Parker missed out on one with 19 points and nine rebounds. Chasson Randle hit some timely shots en route to 13 points.
Nikola Vucevic led the way for Orlando with a 20 point, 14 rebound performance. D.J. Augustin had 16, while Jonathan Issac and Aaron Gordon had 13 a piece.
The Wizards started slow, especially defensively as Orlando was able to build an early lead. Washington closed the first quarter strong, taking the lead into the second quarter. The Magic really stressed the Wizards defense by finding Vucevic after he screened and on switches where he had smaller players on him.
A 9-1 Wizards run is how the second quarter started, Washington went on to outscore Orlando 32-25 in that period. Parker, Bryant, and Randle were responsible for 23 of those points. The Wizards led by as many as 12 at one point, but they took an eight point lead into the half.
After missing all four of his shots in the first half, Magic forward Jonathan Isaac found his rhythm. He scored all 13 of his points for the night in the third quarter. Orlando started the period with an 8-0 run to even things at 61. Later in the period, an Isaac triple gave them a three point lead. As the quarter ended, Beal hit a shot over Birch to give Washington a two point lead heading into the fourth.
The trio of Bryant, Randle, and Parker played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter. Beal played just under eight minutes, allowing him to actually get a little rest. Still, that trio closed things out by scoring 21 of the team's 24 points in the quarter. Bryant capped things off with a big dunk with 52 seconds left, it pushed the Wizards lead back to 10 and secured the win.
Washington hosts Charlotte on Friday night, while Orlando returns home to host Cleveland.
