Without two starters in the lineup, the shorthanded Wizards walked into State Farm Arena and grabbed a huge 119-116 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Bradley Beal led the way with a season-high 37 points.
AGGRESSIVE KYLE KUZMA
Kristaps Porzingis has been a dominant first-quarter scorer all season long, and Monte Morris is an old-school style of point guard that knows how to get guys involved early in the game. With Morris (low back soreness) and Porzingis (left knee soreness) sidelined for the second-straight game, the Wizards needed someone to step up in the first quarter of Tuesday's game in Atlanta. Kyle Kuzma happily answered that call.
Kuzma set the tone on the very first possession for the Wizards. He put his head down, drove the ball, and shrugged off his defender en route to a mid-range floater to get the scoring started. Then, on the next possession, he used a ball screen to get an advantageous switch and promptly brought his defender into the paint where he used a variety of pivots and ball fakes to get to the rim. Finally, on the Wizards' third possession, Kuzma simply drove hard to the cup and drew a foul. He knocked down both free throws, scoring the first six points of the game for the Wizards.
That level of confidence and assertiveness is precisely what the Wizards needed from Kuzma coming off a tough offensive game on Sunday afternoon. They needed him to have the confidence of a madman, and he had exactly that. He didn't make every shot, but he never let that stop him from daringly attacking the basket and looking for more. He didn't go quietly into the night. He brought the fight into the night.
Kuzma finished the game with 28 points on 10-of-26 shooting from the field and had some of the biggest and most timely buckets of the game. He was everything the Wizards needed him to be on a night where they were shorthanded.
BRADLEY BEAL DROPS A NEW SEASON HIGH
The story of the season for Beal has been high efficiency and low usage rate. But lately, he's been playing some of his best and most forceful basketball of the season. Coming into Tuesday night's game, Beal had scored 30+ points in four of his last eight games, looking more and more like the Beal of a couple years back who averaged 30+ points per game for two consecutive seasons.
On Tuesday, Beal was as good as ever, mixing together a nasty combination of efficiency and authoritative scoring. You could tell Beal was in line for a nice night from the very beginning. He knocked down his first three shots of the game and that look in his eye never disappeared. At halftime, he had 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, but the Wizards still found themselves down by four points.
In the third quarter, the Hawks' lead oscillated primarily between four and 10 points. Whenever the Wizards would knock down a couple of shots, the Hawks responded with a couple makes of their own. The Wizards were down by five points heading into the fourth quarter, and the lead stayed between five and nine points for the first few minutes of the final frame. But then, Beal pushed his team over the hump.
In the final six minutes, Beal was getting whatever he wanted on offense, whether that was pull-up jumpers or layups at the rim. He had that "I got us" look to him in the crunch time -- one that instills confidence in the other players on the court.
Washington slowly chipped away at Atlanta's lead until Kuzma came up with a steal and leaked out for a breakaway dunk with just over three minutes left, giving Washington its first lead since the middle of the second quarter.
A couple of minutes later and the Wizards found themselves clinging to a one-point lead with 30 seconds left. While the clock trickled down, Beal slowly dribbled the ball near halfcourt before making his move. He initially tried to get a switch by coming off a couple of ball screens, but the Hawks refused to switch and kept Dejounte Murray -- their best perimeter defender -- glued to Beal.
It didn't matter. Beal took Murray off the dribble before stopping near the elbow, hitting a slight fake, and then using a step-through move to free himself up. Then, he casually kissed the ball off the glass, giving the Wizards a three-point lead with 8.9 seconds left in the game.
After two Trae Young misses from deep on the ensuing Hawks possession, the Wizards had secured the 119-116 victory. The Wizards outscored the Hawks 19-8 in the final 5:47 and Beal finished the game with a season-high 37 points on 17-of-30 shooting from the field to go along with seven assists, three boards, and one steal.
UNSUNG HEROES
Beal and Kuzma led the charge for the Wizards, but there were also a number of other performances worthy of celebrating.
In 34 minutes of action, Daniel Gafford notched a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double to go along with three blocks, two assists, and one steal. Jordan Goodwin put on a "doing the little things" clinic, scoring six points, dishing out four assists, and grabbing two steals, all while playing elite and scrappy defense on Young. Corey Kispert knocked down three of his five 3-point attempts for nine points. And Deni Avdija hauled in 13 rebounds.
"We just never quit," said Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. "End of the game, obviously Brad steps up big, makes plays on both ends. But we got timely stops. And it was a number of guys. Brad, Kuz, Deni, Gaff -- all made plays -- and that's just the way I think it's going to have to be. These games are going to get tighter and tighter. It'll be more physical as you get down the stretch... I think it's good experience, that you have to kind of find a way. And I thought we did that tonight."
All in all, this was an impressive team win against a Hawks squad that's battling the Wizards for playoff positioning.