Bradley Beal scored 31 points to lift the Washington Wizards to their first win of the season, 130-109, over the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday in Minneapolis.
Beal was the first player in licensing history to start a season with at least 25 points in the team’s first six games.
Beal, who made 12 of 20 floor shots, has plagued the Timberwolves in his last two meetings. He scored 30 points in Washington’s 131-109 loss to Minnesota on November 2, 2019, and had 44 to join 10 assists in a 137-116 victory against the Timberwolves two weeks later.
Thomas Bryant finished with 18 points after making all seven of his shots off the floor. The sharp performance came a day after Bryant went 10 of 11 from the field for 28 points in the Wizards ’133-130 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Jerome Robinson scored 13 points off the bench for Washington, who took control of the game after beating Minnesota by a 40-14 margin in the third quarter.
Raul Neto scored 12 points when he started in place of Russell Westbrook (rest), who sat out the second of back games for the Wizards. The former NBA MVP also sat out Sunday, and that was the previous time Washington competed on consecutive nights.
Malik Beasley scored 12 of his 21 points in the first quarter for the Timberwolves, who have lost three in a row while playing without star Karl-Anthony Towns (left fist) .
Washington saw its strong 16-point lead with an 8:53 play in the second to fifth at half-time after Minnesota went on a 25-14 run to end the quarter-hour.
Unfortunately, the Wizards found their stroke from the edge to start in the third quarter. Beal went under 3-pointer before Neto turned from further away from the arc on a sustained possession to push Washington’s lead to 68-57.
The Wizards didn’t give up, with Bryant putting a pair of forts and rookie Deni Avdija and Beal each draining a 3-point lead as part of a 15-0 run. That increase gave Washington a 92-66 advantage, and the Wizards did not look back.
–Field Media Level