Led by a balanced scoring attack, the Wizards took the season series against the Pacers on Saturday night with a 109-102 win. The victory gives the Wizards the advantage in any tiebreaker scenario for the playoffs and moved them ahead of the Pacers in the standings.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 19 points and six assists, while Marcin Gortat added 18 points and eight rebounds. Eight players scored six or more points, as the Wizards shot 54.8% on the night and made 10-of-20 from beyond the arc.
The Wizards continued to play their brand of basketball with 29 assists, and took care of the ball most of the night. The ball movement was at its best in the second and third quarters, with every player touching the ball and contributing. Washington was also able to get to the free throw line more than the Pacers, attempting 23 free throws to the Pacers’ 15.
With Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis both out for the Pacers, the Wizards knew they would have to control the physicality of the game. Washington would battle down low with the Pacers, winning the rebounding battle by one point and tying them for points in the paint at 46. Gortat stepped up in particular in the post, putting together a big offensive game as well as holding Al Jefferson to 4-of-11 shooting.
"I think we were a little bit quicker than they were," Gortat said about the win. "We had a pretty good start to the game and we came out ready to play, focused. We were making shots and that is how we built the lead in the beginning.”
"I thought he was terrific," Scott Brooks said of Gortat. "He could have easily played more minutes but they played super small in the fourth quarter, and then we had a pretty good lead so I didn't have to put him back in but he easily could of had 25 points tonight. It was good ball movement. When we move the ball and we share the basketball he gets a lot of easy buckets for us."
Washington played smothering defense in the first half, holding the Pacers to only 41.3% shooting. Indiana’s starters were only 12-of-29 from the field in the first 24 minutes, as the Wizards took a 57-45 lead into the half. Tomas Satoransky scored all 12 of his points in the first half to lead the Wizards. The Wizards shot 54.1% from the field in the first half, making one more field goal than the Pacers despite taking nine less shots.
The Wizards took a 20-point lead in the third quarter, but the Pacers would rally back multiple times to try to get back in the game. The Pacers would get the game within seven points by game’s end, but the Wizards held on to secure the win. Kelly Oubre Jr. stepped up in particular in the second half with 11 points, making 5-of-7 field goals.
Victor Oladipo, who had 33 points against the Wizards on March 4, was held to just 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Beal took the lead on guarding Oladipo and did an excellent job on him.
“We just made sure that we were aggressive with him and made sure he saw a lot of bodies in the paint," Beal said of guarding Oladipo. "The last game, he got a lot of easy ones in transition. We just made sure that we got back on the shot, loaded to the ball and forced the other guys to attack.”
Next up, the Wizards (40-30) will have three days without a game before they play the Spurs in San Antonio on Wednesday at 9:30pm.
“It’s very important," Beal said of the upcoming schedule with 12 games to go. "We need to make sure that we take care of our bodies, first and foremost. We should be doing everything that we need to do to get better each and every day. We need to approach each game like it is a playoff game. It’s going to be here before we know it. We need to make sure that we are good to go mentally and physically. It gets tougher and tougher as the season closes out.”