The Washington Wizards found themselves down just five points with 1:56 left in the game. All they needed was a stop and they would of had the chance to make it a one possession game. Instead, Jeremy Lamb drew a foul while attacking the basket. He also managed to put up a floater that found the bottom of the net, the officials would give him the continuation, sending him to the line for a free throw. Lamb would convert, extending his team's lead back to eight and the Hornets would beat the Wizards 116-110.
Bradley Beal had one heck of a game, scoring 40 points. Hornets Head Coach James Borrego had this to say of Brad following the game. "He's a special talent. He can score on so many levels. He had the gas pedal down tonight. He was trying to will that team." To go along with the 40 points, Beal had five assists and five rebounds. Jeff Green added 20 points and Jabari Parker had 17 off the bench.
Charlotte was led by Kemba Walker and his 28 points, he didn't shoot the ball well following his 40 point effort against Houston. Jeremy Lamb and Dwayne Bacon had 18 and 13 points respectively, while Tony Parker and Nic Batum scored 16 a piece.
For Washington, they dug a very deep hole early in the first half. Turnovers were the culprit, Charlotte forced 14 Washington turnovers. The Wizards average around 13 per game this season, that half saw them trail by as many as 21.
They would fight back in the second quarter, cutting the lead to five at on point. Beal scored 10 points in the quarter, but Walker matched that total by closing the half strong. The Hornets took a 13 point lead into the break, the damage being done with Charlotte having scored 27 points off of Washington miscues. An additional area in which the Wizards struggled was on the glass. They surrendered 10 offensive rebounds, it's hard to win like that when coupling the issues on the glass with the turnovers.
The Wizards did a much better job in the second half, turning the ball over just twice in the third quarter. They did in fact make a push, but it was hard to get over the hump because they couldn't generate consecutive stops.
For a brief stretch, every big three pointer Washington hit was answered with one from Charlotte accordingly.
The Wizards started the fourth quarter in a zone defensively and it really seemed to disrupt the Hornets rhythm on the offensive end. So much so that Washington outscored Charlotte 32-21 in the period. Troy Brown Jr. and Jabari Parker hit a few timely shots during that stretch. Whittling down a 19 point lead to single digits several times.
In the end, the first half woes were just too much to overcome and Washington dropped their first game of this home stand. They don't have much time to recover or think about last night's result as they host the Memphis Grizzlies tonight at Capital One Arena.
