The Washington Wizards and Danny Abdia recorded tonight (Monday through Tuesday) a second straight victory when they defeated the Houston Rockets and the mythical ex John Wall 119: 131 in the capital.
It was the second straight win for the locals, after beating the Boston Celtics on Tuesday. This is only the second time this season that Washington has recorded a streak of two wins, allowing it to rise to a 17: 8 balance, on the way to perhaps escaping from the bottom of the East. The Rockets for their part recorded a sixth straight loss and are with a balance of 16:11 at the bottom of the West.
The Israeli recorded a mediocre game of 5 points (2/4 from the field) and 3 rebounds in 19 minutes of play. Abdia kept Wall in some minutes, scoring a double-double against his previous team (29 points and 11 assists). Without a loss in the top five for the second time in a row, Washington took control in the first quarter, already leading by eight (25:33), finishing it with a 34:38 lead thanks to a three-pointer on the Latvian Davis Bartans buzzer (18 points, 5/6 of three).
In the second quarter Houston managed to gain the first advantage of the game (47:48), but Scott Brooks’ team went out for a 0: 9 run and with the drop to the break Washington’s advantage was 69:72. In the third quarter, the Wizards’ “mini-escape” came, with a gap already growing to 14 points, and at the end of the third quarter, Washington led 89: 100.
The decisive quarter was fickle. Washington already led by 18 points (101: 119) five minutes to go and the game looked over. But then the Rockets – who once again had to make do without the injured Victor Oladipo, Christian Wood, PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon – went for a 5:15 run and narrowed the gap to 124: 116 just under three minutes to go.
But then Washington went out on its own to secure the victory at the end, 119: 131 at the end. Bradley Bill, the king of league baskets, once again led the Wizards scoring with 37 points. Bill also added 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Russell Westbrook, who quite rarely got a rest this season in the “Back To Back” game (night after night), recorded an impressive triple-double of 16 points (8/22 from the field), 15 rebounds and 13 assists. The Wizards’ next game will be on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, when they will host the Denver Nuggets (03:00 Israel time).