Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
After finding their winning ways in Atlanta earlier this week, the Wizards returned home to face… who Atlanta again. In that victory the Wizards had a strong second half effort by Kyle Kuzma, however tonight, the Wizards would have to do without Kuzma.
The biggest difference in the game tonight was that the Wizards outscored the Hawks by 21 points to start the second half, which by that point the scoring by Trae Young in the first half wasn’t enough for the Hawks to battle back as the Wizards maintained a solid 15 point plus margin through the fourth quarter.
Young finished with 35 points on 12-28 shooting and also had 15 assists. It was his third 30-point, 10-assist game of the year.
The X factor for the Wizards again tonight was the continued emergence of Bilal Coulibaly, who finished with 27 points on 11-14 shooting and 3-5 on threes. He was also one of the biggest reasons that Trae Young struggled in that road game missing his last 13 shots in Atlanta.
“Bilal is continuing to do everything we ask of him, and he has become a big part of this offense in the past two games,” said Wizards Head Coach Brian Keefe.
Jordan Poole scored 24 points, Bub Carrington scored 16, Corey Kispert had 16 off the bench, and Jonas Valanciunas had 22 off the bench. Valanciunas was huge in the second half, scoring 18 of his 22 points.
Next up for the Wizards is a trip to Mexico City on Saturday to face the Miami Heat, who find themselves slow to get started as well, which included a 116-107 in a loss tonight to the Knicks.
