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The Wizards (11-24) rode a 92-point bench performance to a 128-114 win over the Denver Nuggets (24-11) Saturday night at Capital One Arena. The 92 bench points were the second-most since 1970-71, when the NBA began recording starters and bench players and the most since 1977 when the Warriors scored 94 bench points (per Elias Sports Bureau). Denver entered the game with the second-best record in the Western Conference and had won 10 of their last 12 games.
Ish Smith came off the bench and scored a career-high 32 points to lead the Wizards. Smith scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half and led a 21-4 Wizards run in the fourth quarter that helped seal the game.
"Ish was on fire,” Brooks said postgame. “He's a hard cover. He plays with pace…He obviously played out of his mind tonight, but that's how he plays. He plays fast, he plays hard. He plays for his team and he made good plays throughout the game.”
Troy Brown Jr., who moved back to the bench after starting Friday against Portland, finished the game with 25 points, one short of his career high set on December 23 against the Knicks, on 10-12 (.833) from the field and grabbed 14 rebounds, a new career high. Isaac Bonga also came off the bench to set a career high, scoring 15 points on 5-6 (.833) shooting.
“It's the way we want to play,” Smith said. “We want to play with pace, we want to play with a flow. No matter who we're plugging in, that's the way we want to play. These are opportunities for all of us to play well and step up and hold down the fort.”
Brown Jr. has scored 10-plus points in the last nine games he has come off the bench, and 20-point performances in two of his last four games as a reserve. Brown Jr. became the sixth player this season with at least 25 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and the second Wizards player to do so. Moritz Wagner went for 30 and 15 against Minnesota in November.
The Wizards were without Bradley Beal as he continues to deal with lower right leg soreness. Beal has missed four of the last five games and each of the last two. Pregame, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks reiterated pregame that he does not believe that the injury is serious and that Washington hopes to have Beal back Monday against the Celtics.
Denver started the game shooting 4-21 (.190) from the field and 1-11 (.090) from 3-point range, but managed to jump out to an early 9-2 lead before the Wizards’ defense tightened up. Washington went on a 25-6 run late in the first and led 31-19 entering the second quarter. Brown Jr. scored 18 points in the first half and helped the Wizards open up a 16-point lead in the second quarter. Washington led by double digits for most of second quarter, but the Nuggets cut the lead to six points heading into the half.
The third quarter featured a combined 69 points and a stretch between 5:33-3:36 in which neither team missed a field goal. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray scored 20 of his 39 points in the third quarter alone, shooting 6-6 (1.000) from the field and 2-2 (1.000) from deep, but Washington still led by five entering the final frame. Washington pulled away in the fourth behind 13 points from Smith.
Washington continues its six-game homestand on Monday, hosting the Boston Celtics (25-8) at 7:00 P.M. at Capital One Arena in what will be the teams’ second of four matchups this season. The Celtics won the first meeting 140-133 despite 44 points, six assists and five rebounds from Bradley Beal.