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The Washington Wizards (2-4) notched their first home win of the season, topping the Detroit Pistons (3-5), 115-99, on an historic night in franchise history.
With 35 seconds left in the second quarter, Beal scored his 13th point of the night and the 9,834th of his career, passing Kevin Loughery for fifth place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list. Beal totaled 22 points on 8-17 (.470) from the field to go along with six assists and five rebounds. The performance was Beal’s third this season with 20-plus points, five-plus assists and five-plus rebounds.
Washington has now topped Detroit in eight consecutive matchups in D.C., with their last home loss against the Pistons coming on January 18, 2014.
“We came back in the second half,” Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said. “I thought we played defense with some good energy like we did in the first half, take away those four minutes. [Andre] Drummond is hard and that guy is a pro, like I said before the game. We did our best that we could do and he still ended up with 24 rebounds. Some of his offensive rebounds were the missed shots. I thought overall our guys were aggressive on the defensive end. We didn't give them what they wanted, and we made them work for the things that they got."
Washington led, 31-30, after a first quarter that featured 11 lead changes and seven ties. The Wizards opened up a 17-point lead thanks to a 23-6 run to start the second quarter, but squandered the advantage, leading by just two at halftime. Washington outscored Detroit, 30-17, in the third quarter behind eight points from Thomas Bryant, opening up a 93-78 leading heading into the fourth quarter. Beal played closer for Washington, leading the Wizards with seven fourth-quarter points.
Washington’s bench continued to provide a scoring boost, accounting for 53 of the team’s 115 points. For the third consecutive game, three Wizards reserves scored 10-plus points. Troy Brown Jr. registered the first double-double of his career, scoring 14 points on 5-10 (.500) shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds in a season-high 31 minutes off the bench. Moritz Wagner and C.J. Miles each scored 12 points.
"I think (Troy Brown Jr.’s) getting better,” Brooks said. “You know it's getting better every day, every day. He still has to get his NBA game legs. I think that's going to happen. He gets to moments where you can tell that he's tired but he fought through it. He's a rebounder and one thing he does do [is], he rebounds. He gets his nose in there and rebounds the ball. He doesn't shy away from that and we need that.”
Detroit was led by Luke Kennard, who scored 24 points on 6-12 (.500) from the field, 3-4 (.750) from 3-point range and 9-11 (.818) from the free throw line. Andre Drummond, who entered the game having recorded three consecutive 20-point, 20-rebound games, tied an NBA season-high with 24 rebounds but struggled from the field, shooting 6-20 (.300) on his way to 15 points.
Isaiah Thomas made his first start of the season, scoring nine points and recorded six assists. Thomas has tallied five or more assists in all four of his appearances this season, averaging 7.0 per game.
Rui Hachimura scored 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter and has now scored 10-plus points in five of his six games this season.
Washington returns to action on Wednesday, November 6, taking on the Indiana Pacers (3-3) at 7 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Washington and available on the radio on 1500 AM.