Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
There have certainly been some battles against the Spurs over the past few years for the Wizards, quite a few of them where they were on the wrong side of the final score.. tonight was a little different.. you would have through the final two minutes that there was a National title on the line for both teams.. Bradley Beal again having the final say in a solid 138-132 victory.
One of the biggest differences in the game was after Beal finally got his heat behind his shot he made almost everything he tossed in the air.
Beal started to heat up from all over the court, and the Wizards regained the lead midway through the third. The Wizards went on a huge 22-3 run. After Washington pushed the lead to nine, San Antonio crept out of the third period down only 101-98 as Washington stayed hot from deep.
Their deep threat came from the amazing play of Ish Smtih who after the game said he feeds off the energy by Beal and that he felt like he is finally settling into his role off the bench and showing what he is capable of contributing to this team.
Washington was led by, of course, Bradley Beal, who turned in another exceptional outing with 33 points on 14-24 shooting. But the bench came up big as well. Smith and Davis Bertans each pitched in 21 points while Moe Wagner added 13 of his own.
“We had a lot of energy tonight that has been missing in the past few games. San Antonio is struggling just as we are to start the season and they have a lot of great guys who can score in seconds as all of you saw in that final few seconds to end the game tonight, said Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks.
In order for the Wizards to continue to with this type of play, Brooks has to find a way to keep Rui on the court and be able to use the other guys off the bench. Tonight Rui sat again for considerable minutes with foul trouble, but did have a few key re in the final minutes to keep the Spurs off the box sheet.
