Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
On night when the Wizards gave away Kyle Kuzma’s pink sweater bobblehead and he dropped 40 points, the Knicks would end up being the spoilers in the final minutes.
The downfall for the Wizards was when the Knicks went on a 14-0 run early in the fourth, and they still led 105-94 with 2 minutes remaining before Washington nearly took the game back. Kuzma would continue to and play hero as he did the other night with a lay-up that cut the lead to three with 27 seconds remaining. Then it was more of the Julius Randle, but he made just one of two free throws giving the Wizards some life.
Kuzma took things into his own hands again and was fouled shooting a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left, but he made only two of three attempts from the line. Jalen Brunson made both of his free throws for the Knicks to make it 110-106.
Kuzma and Rui Hachimura both had two opportunities to tie the game, but missed at the other end, and two more free throws by Brunson made it a six-point game with 3.5 seconds to play.
One more basket at the buzzer by Kuzma was all but irrelevant at this point but it did give Kuz 40 points on the night.
“Jalen Brunson. He just took over the game,” Kuzma said. “He’s an All-Star this year. He’s been playing phenomenal basketball. … You can just tell from the team last year to this year, they have more poise and patience, and they look for him, and he delivered tonight.”
The Wizards did have Porzingis back tonight, but his 21 points was not enough.
Without the combo of all three Beal, Kuz and Porzingis at the same time in the line-up, there have been so many scoring combinations for the Wizards. Unlike the game against the Bulls, where, both Beal and Porzingis were out, the bench did not help as much tonight as they did on Wednesday night. Just 23 total bench points with Rui Hachimura going 4 for 14 from the field.
