The Washington Wizards and Danny Abdia surrendered tonight (Wednesday-Thursday) 137: 115 to the Toronto Raptors in the capital, returning to the losing track after the away game campaign and victory over the Chicago Bulls in the previous game.
Although Abdia did not start in the Wizards’ quintet (16: 6 balance) for the second game in a row, he recorded a good game of 9 points (2/6 of the three), 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Abdia did start the game off the bench as mentioned, but won quite a bit of parquet from coach Scott Brooks with almost 27 minutes of play.
As for the game, the guest from Canada (13:12) took control of things from the first quarter which she finished with a 28:40 advantage. Not for the first time this season the Wizards defense has conceded at least 40 points in the opening quarter. In the second quarter, Washington managed to get back to a four-point deficit (60:56), but Toronto immediately recovered and finished the quarter with a 61:74 advantage.
The trend continued into the third quarter as well, where the hosts failed to get too close, and at the end the Raptors led 93: 103. In the final quarter Washington looked like they could make a comeback after coming close to a 108-103 deficit (08:59 minutes to go. But Nick Ners’ side, who enjoyed a 56 percent shooting margin from the three (19/32) again ran away and scored a convincing 115: 137 finish.
Guard Norman Powell excelled in the visiting ranks with 28 points (3/4 of the three), 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Among the losers, the league’s leading scorer Bradley Bill (average of 33.3 points) recorded a lukewarm game in terms of 24 points (8/20 from the field, only 1/6 from the three). Russell Westbrook scored 23 points (9/20 from the field), dropped 6 rebounds and handed out 7 assists. The Wizards’ dismal balance with Westbrook, who did not play in the game against Chicago, continues and he now stands at just two wins versus 13 losses.
The Wizards’ next game will be on the night between Friday and Saturday (02:00 Israel time), so they will host the New York Knicks.