John Wall, Jordan Crawford help Washington Wizards beat Utah Jazz 100-95 in O.T.
Rookie guards John Wall and Jordan Crawford combined for 53 points, as the Washington Wizards trounced the Utah Jazz 100-95 in overtime at the EnergySolutions Arena on Monday night.
This was only the Wizards’ second road victory of the 2010-11 season and their first against the Jazz in six seasons. The result also snapped Washington’s four-game losing streak.
The 20-year-old Wall said that that his team was tired of hearing about their poor road performances this season and keeping that in mind, they managed to improve their record to 2-35.
Wall told reporters, "We got tired of hearing about it before we won one so to get the second one we're going to hear a little bit about it tonight. It is just good. We just want to win and keep winning.”
Wall scored a game-high 28 points, grabbed seven assists and six rebounds for the Wizards. Crawford chipped in with 25 points, two assists and five rebounds in the victory. JaVale McGee posted 11 points and pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds for the Wizards,
who have won two of their last 10 games of the current season.
Forward C.J. Miles added a team-high 17 points for the Jazz, who lost their sixth consecutive game. Centre Al Jefferson finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds, while guard Earl Watson had 13 points and nine assists for Utah, who have had four overtime games
in their last six contests.
Jazz guard Raja Bell left the game in the third quarter with a right foot injury and did not return to the line-up for rest of the period. Forwards Paul Millsap and Gordon Hayward finished with 12 points each while Derrick Favors came off the bench with
11 points and 10 rebounds in the defeat.
Utah played their fourth consecutive game of the season without guard Devin Harris, who is under day-to-day observation with a strained right hamstring.
Match Analysis
The Wizards did not manage a single win against Utah in the last six seasons. However, they did it this time, by beating the Jazz at their home court after a wire-to-wire contest. The Jazz held a 21-16 lead after the first quarter, behind an eight-point
effort from Miles.
The Wizards came out strongly in the second quarter and outscored Utah 35-22, taking a 51-43 advantage into the locker room. Washington then extended their lead to 62-50 with over seven minutes to go in the third quarter. The Wizards pulled away 73-63 heading
into the final stanza.
Utah got their rhythm back in the fourth quarter as they went on a 19-9 run to make it a two-point game at 82-80 with over two and a half minutes to go. Jeffers’ free throw made it 83-80 for the Wizards but Evans and Price hit a pair of free throws to put
the Jazz ahead by 85-83 with 14 seconds left. However, Crawford hit a breath-taking pull-up jump shot in the last moment, to send the game into overtime (O.T.).
The Wizards ran roughshod over the Jazz in O.T. After Crawford’s dunk shot, Evans hit a three-pointer and Washington made enough free throws to put the game away.
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