The 15,075 fans at Verizon Center probably wouldn’t have started out the night so angry had they known what they were about to see.
Yes, the lowly Wizards took down the team with the NBA’s best record Wednesday night.
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Defying expectations and all-star performances by Kevin Durant (33 points) and Russell Westbrook (36 points), the Wizards scrapped, fought and hit a slew of second-half 3-pointers to earn their second win of the season 105-102 over the Oklahoma City Thunder (12-3), who had won seven games in a row.
“I told them, ‘You set a bar,'” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. “One of our guys said in there, ‘We’ve got no excuses.’ We know that if we play hard, play together as a team, that good things can happen.”
They did happen thanks to five 3-pointers in the second half from Nick Young (24 points), another superb outing from John Wall (25 points, eight assists, seven rebounds) and a valiant effort by Andray Blatche (12 points, 10 rebounds). Blatche was booed the moment he was introduced in the starting lineup for the first time in six games, but by the time he snagged a rebound off a missed free throw by JaVale McGee late in the fourth quarter, the cheers finally started to come around in his favor.
“That was just terrible. Last year I missed that layup,” Blatche said, referring to an airball against Chicago that brought the fans’ ire. “But intros? I was just like, ‘Oh man.’ Hey, man, if they going to do that every night and we win, I don’t care.”
The Thunder led by as much as 12 in the third quarter, but Blatche’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer trimmed the lead to four heading into the fourth. Wall rammed home an alley-oop from Jordan Crawford (18 points) early in the quarter to tie it, and the Wizards (2-12) never trailed after Young’s 3-pointer made it 86-84 with 7:24 left.
Westbrook’s spin and feed to Thabo Sefolosha gave Oklahoma City an early 14-5 lead, but the Wizards fought back against the visitors and a venomous arena to trail just 22-18 after one quarter. Blatche’s effort was key to getting back on top.
Harassing Kendrick Perkins’ every touch, Blatche opened a stalwart defensive possession that finished with Jan Vesely blocking Nick Collison on the baseline. The Wizards then went on an 8-0 run. Crawford nabbed a rebound sprawled on the floor, and Blatche fed Vesely for the fast-break dunk to cut the Thunder lead to 36-33.
Blatche then stole the ball outright from Perkins and finished at the other end, even if he did jump so early he nearly missed his layup. Wall added a transition jumper and a feed to Rashard Lewis for a slam and a 39-36 advantage.
The Wizards’ only problem was no one could stymie Durant or Westbrook, who scored 32 of the Thunder’s 51 first-half points, including the final seven after Washington had been up 46-44.
