Wizards Knock off Woeful Pistons, 117-97

Story By: Sol Tucker

Photos By: Sol Tucker

Washington, D.C–

While I am not exactly sure what might have been said on the way back from Philly or in the locker room over the past two days, but the effort tonight against the woeful Pistons was quite a bit different.

Bradley Beal looked like the Beal of old, scoring when it mattered and helping to close out games.  He would finish with 36 points 6 rebounds and 7 assists. One of his better performances over the past two weeks. Beal went 13 of 15 from the field and finished one point shy of his season high.

Washington (32-37) moved percentage points ahead of Chicago (31-36) for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Wizards played again tonight without Kyle Kuzma, who has been battling his injury the past couple weeks that has sidelined him for a few games. The question tonight, is are they better without him in the line-up for this final stretch of 13 games?

Washington was able to control the game from the opening tip, shooting a blistering 68 percent in the first quarter.

Defense was one of the Pistons problems just before the half and then again late in the game. They had cut the lead to 9 points with 5:29 remaining in the second quarter then allowed for the Wizards to go on 7-0 run before heading into the half down, 61-45.

Another key reason for the Wizards blow-out tonight was the Pistons shot just 38.4 percent overall with Killian Hayes scoring 20 points. The Pistons also went to the line just 12 times to the Wizards 22 times tonight.

Next up for the Wizards is a match-up against Cleveland on Friday night. Another big game and perhaps pivotal on what kind of run they can make in the next two weeks will be the game Saturday night at home against the Kings.

Below is what the remainder of the schedule looks like to stay on track for that play in game.

Fri, Mar 17	@Cleveland	7:30 PM		Tickets as low as $21
Sat, Mar 18	vsSacramento	8:00 PM		Tickets as low as $18
Tue, Mar 21	@Orlando	7:00 PM		Tickets as low as $12
Wed, Mar 22	vsDenver	7:00 PM		Tickets as low as $16
Fri, Mar 24	vsSan Antonio	7:00 PM		Tickets as low as $14
Sun, Mar 26	@Toronto	6:00 PM		Tickets as low as $36
Tue, Mar 28	vsBoston	7:00 PM		Tickets as low as $58
Fri, Mar 31	vsOrlando	7:00 PM		Tickets as low as $17
Sun, Apr 2	@New York	6:00 PM		Tickets as low as $127
Tue, Apr 4	vsMilwaukee	7:00 PM		Tickets as low as $22
Wed, Apr 5	@Atlanta	7:30 PM		Tickets as low as $22
Fri, Apr 7	vsMiami	7:00 PM		Tickets as low as $22
Sun, Apr 9	vsHouston	1:00 PM