Wizards 118
Knicks 113
February 14, 2018 | Madison Square Garden | New York, NY
With three days off after Saturday’s game in Chicago, the Washington Wizards could have fell into the trap game on Wednesday against the New York Knicks and they almost did. With less than three minutes to play in the first half, the Wizards were down 68-41 and about to get run out of The Mecca. A non-PG-13 pep talk from head coach Scott Brooks turned things around at halftime before the road team escaped with a victory. Washington erased a 27-point deficit, which is the biggest comeback in the NBA this season and biggest blown lead by New York since they started tracking the statistic in the 1991-92 season.
“Coach cussed us out,” Bradley Beal said about the change after halftime. “It’s plain and simple. He said we either going to come out and play in the second half or we just going to go on break. That’s not how we’re built, that’s not how we’re made. First half was terrible, second half we just came out with energy, played physical.”
(Photo: Ned Dishman via Getty Images)
Bradley Beal Proves Worthy of All-Star Status
The first time All-Star finished with 36 points on 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) shooting, seven assists, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in 43 minutes that included playing the entire second half with only one true point guard available for Washington. With his second of four three-pointers in the game, Beal became the youngest player to ever make 800 three-pointers in the regular season and first to do so before turning 25-years old. The Big Panda had 23 points in the second half that helped jump start the Washington offense that was at times sluggish in the first half.
Another Career Game for Tomas Satoransky
Just four days after taking the hardest fall in his career, Satoransky was able to play against New York, which meant Washington did not have to sign an emergency point guard with Tim Frazier out with his nose injury. The 6-7 point guard only had nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, but had a career-high in assists (11) and blocks (3).
Tale of Two Halves for Tim Hardaway Jr.
In just over 21 minutes, Hardaway had 32 points on 12-of-13 (92.6 percent) shooting from the field including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. The free agent signing had just five three-pointers in his last seven games going 5-of-44 in that stretch including 0-of-8 on Monday against Philadelphia. After five more quick points early in the third quarter, Hardaway had 37 and was just one-point shy of his career-high, but then Washington finally shut him down. The wing missed his final seven shots and had three of his attempts blocked in the second half after only missing two shots in the first half.
“I told him I was going to shut him down,” Beal recalled his conversation with Hardaway. “He started chirping a little bit, we both started chirping. That’s my man at the end of the day, but I told him he wasn’t going to score for the rest of the game and he didn’t.”
Rebounding the Difference
In the third quarter that Washington won 39-15, a big reason for the turnaround was winning the battle on the glass by a whopping 19-2 margin in the frame following halftime. The rest of the game, the Wizards were outrebounded 40-26 and lost the corresponding other three quarters 98-79. New York had 14 second chance points, but just one coming in the third quarter. Of course, shooting 17-of-21 (81 percent) from the field helps limit the opposition's chance for rebounds. Likewise, New York shot just 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from the field in the third quarter that gave Washington plenty of defensive rebounding opportunities.
Otto Porter Jr. Quietly Taking Care of Business
Porter, who ran some point guard at times in the first half, finished with 22 points on 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) shooting, six rebounds, and three assists in 38 minutes. Despite not making any of his three three-point attempts, Porter gave the Wizards a needed secondary scoring boost. Coming into Wednesday, Porter was averaging 18.8 points on 52.8 percent shooting, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in the most stretch without John Wall.
Next Game: After seven days off for the All-Star Break, the Wizards will head to Cleveland to face the revamped Cavs next Thursday.