Washington Wizards win their third game of the season; Beat New Orleans Hornets 77-70: NBA Recap
The Washington Wizards overcame a 10 point deficit to move past the New Orleans Hornets 77-70 for a rare win, they are now 3-15 in this season.
Jordan Crawford was the man for the Wizards, he scored 26 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, Nene came off the bench to post a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Bradley Beal chipped in with 15 points.
"I just really wanted to do everything to take the win," Crawford said. "I didn't care how many shots I shot. Turnovers. Nothing. I just wanted to do whatever it took to win.” he went 9 of 24 from the floor but shot 4 of the Wizards last 5 baskets.
Ryan Anderson had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Anthony Davis played for the Hornets after missing 11 games with a stress reaction in his left ankle, and he finished off with 13 points and 8 rebounds while Austin Rivers added 11 points for the Hornets.
The Wizards struggled in the first quarter; they shot 32.5 percent and scored only 11 points in the period.
"That first quarter, I thought I was getting my teeth pulled at the dentist without any Novocain, It was very painful” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.
It was a cold start to the game for both teams, Crawford nailed a three pointer early in the first period to make his intentions clear that he will be shooting and not passing as he was playing in the place of guard A.J. Price, who is out with a broken hand. The Wizards were sluggish but the Hornets were not in the top-notch form as well as they also shot poorly in the first quarter and were leading 22-11 by the end of the period.
The Hornets maintained their advantage over the Wizards for most of the second period. Whenever Washington tried to cut the deficit Hornets passed the ball to Ryan Anderson and he connected two from downtown to put them up 38-26. New Orleans were up 42-30 before a 6 nil spurt by the Wizards reduced the deficit down to 36-42 by the end of the period.
Wizards crawled back into the game slowly and steadily in the third period. The Hornets were up 55-45 with 4:50 on the regulation; the Wizards went for a 9-0 run to make it a one point game on 54-55. But Anthony Davis tipped one in to put the Hornets up 60-56 by the end of the period.
The score was tied on 65 early in the period when Crawford turned hot and made 6 straight points to put the Wizards up 71-65. The Hornets were trailing 70-73 with 1:51 on the regulation, New Orleans were held to only 10 points in the fourth period. The Wizards defended well in the last 2 minutes and scored the final 4 points of the game to edge out the Hornets 77-70.
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