Wizards 112 Pacers 107 (ot)
February 11, 2017 – Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
After losing a tough overtime game Monday to the Cavaliers and getting a tough road win over the Nets on Wednesday, the Wizards entered Friday night looking to return to the form that saw them win 17 straight on their home court before that streak ended.
In front of 19,503 the Wizards got a win over the Pacers 112-107.
Markieff Morris had a big night with 26 points. John Wall added 26 points of his own. For the Pacers, Paul George finished with 31 points.
Speaking of crowd size, size doesn’t matter if there isn’t any volume. After the electric atmosphere Monday night, the Wizards fans showed up last night to continue to give their team a great homecourt advantage. It wasn’t this way in the beginning of the season but the more you win the more people will come.
“I told our guys at the start of the season, that our job is to play hard and play for each other, and let everything work itself out,” said Wizards head coach Scott Brooks. “We didn’t have the good start that we wanted but the thing I loved about the start, is not one guy made an excuse. I think cities get behind teams that don’t make excuses and leave everything on the floor, and play for each other.”
1st quarter
The Wizards scored the first bucket of the game with a putback by Marcin Gortat. After a baseline jumper by Markieff Morris, Otto Porter would do what he’s been doing best all season… draining a three.
Leading 16-13, Bradley Beal stole the ball, dished it out to Wall who found Morris. Morris missed the dunk but the Wizards got a lucky bounce as the ball landed in the hoop.
“It’s like the year, we making all types of shots, man. Got lucky. About time bounce goes my way,” Morris said after the game.
Sometimes when you’re riding the bench you look up to the leader. Or it could be a role reversal, you be the judge. Later in the quarter, Trey Burke channeled his inner John Wall going under the basket and feeding the ball to Wall for the slam. This put the Wizards up 28-21.
Burke hit a fade away jumper before the horn.
The Wizards led 33-27 at the end of the first quarter. Porter led the Wizards with eight points. Wall finished the first 12 minutes with six points and six assists. Morris also had six as did Burke off the bench.
2nd quarter
The Pacers started the quarter on a 20-5 run nearly halfway through the second frame. A jumper by Rodney Stuckey gave them the first lead of the game.
An and-one opportunity by Morris stopped the run but he couldn’t hit the extra free throw. Trailing 49-40 Morris and Wall kept the Wizards in the game. Morris had a layup and a three. Wall had an and-one and it became a three point deficit, 48-51.
Paul George answered with a jumper while Beal fired right back with a three to make it a 51-53 game. Both teams kept trading baskets but in the end a steal by Beal led to a fastbreak where Morris layed it in to tie the game at 59 with 3.1 seconds before the half and that’s what the score would be at the half.
3rd quarter
Wizards start the second half on an 8-2 run thanks to a jumper by Wall, a three from Beal and an and-one by Morris. That put the Wizards up 67-61.
Pacers answered with a 11-3 run and a jumper by Lavoy Allen gave Indiana the lead right back at 72-70 with 5:39 to go. The Wizards answered on a three by Morris.
Gortat followed with two straight buckets then Wall hit a beautiful step-back three which put the Wizards up 80-74.
The Pacers hung in there and closed the gap to 82-81 and that’s when the Wizards had two big plays to get the crowd out of their seats. A dunk by Jason Smith and a running lay-in by Burke just two seconds before the buzzer put the Wizards up 86-81 after three.
Through the first thee quarters, Paul George led all scorers with 24 points. For the good guys, Morris was right behind him with 23.
4th quarter
The Pacers started the fourth on a 6-2 run and a bucket by Kevin Seraphin, yes ks-life the former Wizard, pulled them within 88-87. A Monta Ellis jumper put the Pacers in front 89-88. Following that and desperate for a spark, Smith threw a block party.
Wall would later hit two free throws to give the Wizards the lead right back and a Beal jumper made it 92-89 with 7:18 to go.
The Pacers continued to pull close. Hanging on to a one-point lead at 97-96 a three by Beal put the Wizards up by a comfortable four. Later on after a bucket by Gortat put the Wizards up 103-98, Seraphin threw down a big dunk to pull Indiana to within three and a floater by Ellis made it a 103-102 game. Wall answered with jumper and Keef followed with the dagger three-pointer.
The Wizards win 112-107.
#WizPacers in a Tweet
The Game’s Top Performer
Markieff Morris- 26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
After sitting out during the Brooklyn game with a minor calf injury, Morris had a breakout night. He led the Wizards (well tied for the lead technically) in points with 26 including 11 field goals and three three-pointers. His 26 points were a season high.
“Felt good man. Had about three to four days off. Made some shots,” said Morris.
“He played well. A couple days of rest and being with the staff got him ready to play. He had a great game. He did a lot of great things on both ends. He hit the big three, but he played a lot of good defensive possessions when we needed it. He was really good tonight,” said Brooks.
A forgettable night for..
CJ Miles
Miles was the lone Pacer starter that did not record double figures. In fact the only points he had was a three. That three happened to come in the very end of the game, the final points Indiana recorded, with 6.9 seconds left. Overall he was 1/6 in field goals and 1/5 from three-point land.
Key Stat of the Night
46 team rebounds
The “Phoenix Outlaws”, the new nickname for Morris and Gortat, combined for 26 of those 46 rebounds.
“(Marcin) has said it (the nickname) about three times but I ain’t rolling with it,” Morris said. “I don’t want to give Phoenix no credit. We moved on, gotta find a better name than that.”
What’s next?
Cue DJ Khaled because the Wizards are in “another one” of those nationally televised games. On Monday the Wizards host the Oklahoma City Thunder with tipoff at 8 PM on TNT. The Wizards and Pacers will meet again on Thursday before the All Star break.
“They’re playing well. They beat Cleveland last night, they got a game tomorrow night against Golden State, they got one of the best players in the game. We gotta bring it. They got bigs, they got shooters, they’re playing good basketball, we gotta be ready. We have off tomorrow, hopefully we’ll have a good practice Sunday and be ready Monday,” said Brooks.