(Photo: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Wizards 121
Knicks 103
January 3, 2018 | Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.
The Wizards rang in the New Year with a big 121-103 win over the Knicks. After closing 2017 with a New Years Eve win over the sub-.500 Bulls, the Wizards picked up right where they left off. The Knicks came into this game with an 18-19 record and after finishing the 2017 portion of the Wizards schedule with 10 losses to teams with a losing record, one New Years’ resolution for the Wizards is a no brainer. From the “Polish Hammer” to the “House of Guards”, just about everybody contributed to this win to kick off 2018.
The Wizards improve their record to 22-16 and protected their house from a contingent of Knicks fans for their eighth home win in their last nine games.
Polish Hammer Season-High
From the game tipped off to the final buzzer, Marcin Gortat had quite the night. The game began with a dime to Markieff Morris for a layup. Gortat followed that with a jumper and a hook shot for the Wizards first six points of the game.
Gortat finished with a season-high 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting along with eight rebounds. That was also the first time he scored 21 points in a game since Feb. 2, 2016 against the Lakers.
"I just decided I want to go at him," Gortat explains his play against Enes Kanter. He was going at me in the preseason, I didn't like that. I felt like I was disrespected. ... I want[ed] to come out and win the game."
First Double-Double For Keef
Markieff Morris has come a long way since beginning the season with an ankle injury and sports hernia surgery. With 11 points and 11 rebounds, all 11 boards coming from the defensive end, it was Morris’ first time this season recording a double-double. Keef was matched up with Kristaps Porzingis much of the night.
"(Kristaps) Porzingis is a tough matchup. He’s long, he can shoot threes, he can put the ball on the floor. He runs the floor. He is a terrific basketball player. I thought we were pretty good being aggressive and physical with him and not giving him a lot of open looks because if you do he shoots over the top and his length is hard to defend. I thought Markieff did a great job defensively, rebounding the ball for us. Eleven points and 11 rebounds, that’s solid."
The Wizards are 10-1 when Morris records a double-double and they need Keef to continue to work hard if they want to make a serious push in the Eastern Conference standings.
House of Guards Provide Turning Point
The first half of the game was back-and-fourth but John Wall and Bradley Beal helped shift the momentum towards the Wizards favor with a strong run to close the first half. The House of Guards combined for team’s final 11 points of the first half. Wall had back-to-back layups and a free throw. Then Beal followed with a 19-foot pull-up jumper. Wall then had another layup and then the half ended with Beal missing a three but Wall was right there to get the rebound and bury a baseline jumper at the buzzer to put the Wizards ahead 64-62. This stretch by Wall and Beal gave the Wizards momentum as we would find out in the second half.
Strong Second Half Start The Difference
I’m not quite sure what Scott Brooks told his players at the half. My guess is that he said the Knicks were one of the top three teams in the east. Whatever he said worked and the Wizards came right out of the gates to take command in this game.
"Our defense, we gave up 62, maybe 63 points in the first half," Beal attributed to the difference. "That wasn’t like us. We got after it defensively, got stops, got out in transition and moved the ball on offense. We kept doing and got multiple stops in a row, which is good and gave us the lead we got."
The Wizards began the third on a 12-3 run that would later stretch to an 18-5 run that put the Wizards ahead 82-68 with contributions from each member of the starting five. The Wizards never looked back. Aside from Beal (next take), and Gortat’s 21, Wall had a great night with 25 points and nine assists.
Bradley Beal is making a serious case at a chance to appear in his first NBA All Star Game. Wednesday night vs. the Knicks he had another breakout game, leading all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting along with four rebounds and six assists. It was Beal’s 19th time this season when he’s scored at least 25 points, which is tied for the seventh-most total games in the NBA this season.
"Brad’s [Beal] been playing great for us. He’s been MVP so far this season," Wall said.
Wednesday’s performance came off the heels of an Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor. The Wizards went 3-1 over that span which included a huge Christmas Day win over the Celtics. Beal averaged 26.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting .467 from the field and .387 from three-point range.
"I was proud. I was happy," Beal began. "I always credit my teammates because I wouldn’t be in that situation without them, putting me in position to score, getting them shots and helping the bigs rebound. It was a great week for us all around. If we didn’t win game, I wouldn’t be considered for that anyways."
Next Game: After a day off on Thursday the Wizards will have another tough back-to-back stretch on Friday and Saturday. First up is a road contest in Memphis against the Grizzlies before coming back to Capital One Arena on Saturday night to host the Milwaukee Bucks.