By Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports)
The Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 107-105 on Monday night. Here are three things that stood out about the game...
Three straight
For the first time this season, the Wizards have won three games in a row. That is officially a winning streak, folks.
Washington had won two straight on two different occasions earlier this year, but that third win had proven elusive. That was until Monday in Chicago when the Wizards held on despite losing the second and third quarters by a combined 14 points. They rallied to outscore the Bulls 25-23 in the fourth and head to the airport with a victory.
Jordan Poole and Corey Kispert got the Wizards off to a hot start with 10 points apiece in the first quarter. Washington jumped out to a 15-0 lead and led by 14 by the end of the 1st.
Poole finished the game with a team-high 23 points, while Kispert had 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. It was the first double-double of Kispert's career.
The Richaun Holmes-Marvin Bagley III combination continues to impress. Holmes gave the Wizards 14 points and 15 rebounds as the starter, while Bagley added 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting as his backup. Holmes had one of the most important plays of the game, a block on DeMar DeRozan with 1:45 to go in the fourth.
It was certainly a collective effort and it was needed with Kyle Kuzma and Deni Avdija missing the game as late additions to the injury report. That was on top of Tyus Jones and Landry Shamet remaining out, plus Bilal Coulibaly being done for the year.
Chicago was without Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine, as they have been for a while, but did have standout guard Coby White after he missed the last meeting between these teams on March 16.
Young guys
With a long list of injuries, the Wizards' rotation remained a window of opportunity for a host of young prospects in their system and several of them took advantage. Let's start with rookie Tristan Vukcevic, the Wizards' 2023 second round pick, who was appearing in just his second NBA game. Vukcevic earned his first NBA points on a three from the top of the key early in the second quarter. He made another triple in the second half, ending up with six points and three rebounds.
The first three was assisted by Jared Butler, who played 27 minutes in part because Poole got into foul trouble early with three fouls in his first five minutes on the floor. Butler made a bunch of nice plays on drive-and-kicks en route to a career-high 13 assists to go along with eight points, four rebounds and two steals. He helped get the Wizards' offense going in the first quarter with four dimes, including lasers to find Kispert and Jules Bernard for open corner threes.
Justin Champagnie also made a series of standout plays to highlight a well-rounded stat-line of eight points, three assists, three rebounds and a block. He impacted the game on both ends of the floor with heady ball movement and stout defensive stands.
That included a smooth drive-and-kick assist to Bagley III for a midrange jumper in the first half. Champagnie later guarded DeRozan down the stretch and hit a clutch three with two minutes left in the game.
Avdija and Kuzma out
Both Avdija and Kuzma returned from brief injury absences last Thursday and played well through two games, but each of them were out on Monday in Chicago. Kuzma was ruled out early in the day due to left shoulder soreness. Avdija, meanwhile, was a late scratch due to a non-COVID illness.
The Wizards started Johnny Davis and Patrick Baldwin Jr. in their place against the Bulls. Davis pitched in eight points, three assists and two rebounds. Baldwin Jr., meanwhile, added two points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. The two connected on a great sequence in the third quarter when Davis found Baldwin Jr. for a fastbreak slam on a beautiful kick-ahead bounce pass.
Kuzma's left shoulder soreness is the same injury he was dealing with previously. He has played 67 games this season, his most since joining the Wizards in a 2021 trade. Kuzma is two games away from playing his most in a season since 2018-19 (70 games) and can technically tie a career-high with 77 if he were to play in every game the rest of the way.
Up next: The Wizards return home to host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday in the first of six straight games at home.