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Coming off a win over the Knicks on Monday night, the Wizards got a bit of injury relief as Jordan McRae made his return Thursday against Detroit after missing 10 games following right ring finger surgery. Washington, however, was still missing six players to due to injury and Isaiah Thomas to a league suspension. Against the Pistons (12-20), shorthandedness caught up with the Wizards (9-21) in a 132-102 loss at Little Caesars Arena.
The Wizards’ bit of relief on the injury report lasted only a few quarters though as Bradley Beal exited midway through the third quarter and was unable to finish the game due to lower right leg soreness. After the game, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said the decision was made to hold Beal out of the remainder of the game due to the deficit. Beal scored 15 points on 5-14 (.357) shooting in 24 minutes.
“We'll see how he feels tomorrow and evaluate it then,” Brooks said. “He wanted to keep playing, but the bottom line is we were down a big number [and we thought it was] wise to let him sit out the rest of the game.”
The Washington offense struggled from the jump, shooting 9-29 (.310) from the field and 1-9 (.111) from deep in the first quarter, including a field goal drought of nearly four minutes midway through the opening frame. Gary Payton II, coming off a do-it-all performance against New York on Monday in his season debut, made an immediate impact again tonight. Payton II checked in at the 4:48 mark and within the first few possessions, recorded an impressive block against Pistons center Andre Drummond. Payton II went on to finish the game with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
McRae did most of his damage in the second and third quarters, scoring a combined 13 points on 4-7 (.571) from the field. McRae showed no signs of rust in his return, getting to the rim and playing active defense throughout. McRae finished the game with 15 points.
For the Wizards, the second half was not much better than the first. Detroit outscored the Wizards 64-54 quarters three and four, shooting 51.2% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point range.
“We didn't play well,” Brooks said. “They had a great game. They came back healthy and their bigs were a handful.”
Playing in his fifth game, Wizards rookie Anzejs Pasecniks set a new career high for the third game in a row, scoring 17 points on 7-11 (.636) from the field to go along with six rebounds. Pasecniks has now scored in double figures and shot 60-plus percent from the field in each of his last three games.
The Pistons were led by a 22-point performance off the bench from Christian Wood, who shot 7-9 (.777) from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three assists.
The Wizards are now 2-1 this season against the Pistons, having won each of the teams’ previous matchups. Washington and Detroit will play their final matchup of the 2019-20 season on January 20 at Capital One Arena.
Up next, the Wizards are back in D.C. for the first time in 10 days, hosting the Knicks on Thursday, December 28 at 8:00 P.M. Washington defeated New York 121-115 on Monday behind 30 points from Beal, a career-high 26 points from Troy Brown Jr. and a dominant defensive performance from Payton II.