Wall’s double-double paces Wizards in win
John Wall swiped the defensive rebound, and as he had all Monday afternoon, the Wizards rookie point guard took off with both pace and purpose. The only thing moving faster than him was his laser-beam pass crosscourt to Nick Young.
The back-breaking 3-pointer from Young that followed with 40.9 seconds remaining not only gave Wall his career-high 15th assist, but it was Washington’s only field goal in the final three minutes against visiting Utah. Fortunately for the Wizards, it was the only one they needed to clinch a decisive first win of the season over a team with a winning record, 108-101.
Young, who scored 22 of his team-high 25 points in the second half, let go a primal scream and a moment later Wall was waving his arms to pump up the crowd of 14,925 at Verizon Center, where the Wizards have won four straight.
“I felt confidence in it,” Young said, “and once it went down, we all felt like that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
| Up next>/td |
| Wizards at Bucks |
| When » Wednesday, 8 p.m. |
| Where » Bradley Center, Milwaukee |
| TV » Comcast SportsNet |
| Radio » 106.7 FM |
But the Wizards (12-27) were sharper from the start against the Jazz (27-14), who were done no favors by the 1 p.m. holiday start.
Andray Blatche, coming off a recent shoulder injury, made his first five shots en route to his best all-around game of the year with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, including a key rejection from behind of Raja Bell’s fast break lay-up. The play helped spark a 14-2 run that included Wall (19 points) setting up JaVale McGee’s jaw-dropping alley-oop finish — an ovation-inspiring slam over his shoulder.
McGee (seven points) bounced back from early foul trouble to pull down 10 of his 11 rebounds in the second half, and Rashard Lewis scored all 13 of his points in the third quarter.
“We had a couple teams here that we gave it away,” Wall said, “but it’s great to see us keep composure even though we didn’t make shots down the stretch.”
Al Jefferson (25 points, 10 rebounds) scored twice as the Jazz cut Washington’s 10-point lead to three with 1:26 to play, but the sixth 3-pointer of the night for Deron Williams (28 points, 11 assists) wasn’t enough to keep the Wizards from their first two-game winning streak of the year. That still will mean little if they can’t end their winless ways on the road.
“Both games have been at home, though,” Lewis said. “If we can figure out a way to start winning on the road, it only starts with one.”
