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| Welcome back, Bradley Beal: Wizards win in guard’s return from injury | Welcome back, Bradley Beal: Wizards win in guard’s return from injury |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The ovation surged when Bradley Beal’s name reverberated throughout Verizon Center. The sharpshooter, one half of the Washington Wizards’ dynamic back court, finally walked onto the floor Wednesday night with 3 minutes 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter. It had been more than a month in the making, 33 days lost to his fourth stress-related fibula injury in four seasons, and it seemed so much longer than that. | |
| Beal’s minutes will be limited in the immediate future, and the Wizards remain incomplete, particularly in the front court, but they still became a more dangerous team with Beal back from a 16-game absence. And with their leading scorer in tow, Washington blitzed the Milwaukee Bucks at the start, then hung on late for a 106-101 win. | |
| “It felt great to finally touch the floor and get back out with my teammates,” said Beal, who scored 11 points in 23 minutes off the bench. “That was awesome.” | “It felt great to finally touch the floor and get back out with my teammates,” said Beal, who scored 11 points in 23 minutes off the bench. “That was awesome.” |
| [Ted Leonsis gets emojified for Wizards’ first #WizSocial night] | |
| Once up 19 points in the second quarter, a grisly third period torpedoed by a 6-for-23 shooting performance placed the Wizards (18-19) in a three-point hole to start the final quarter. A strong finish sealed their third straight victory and halted a four-game home losing streak. They now sit 11/2 games behind the Orlando Magic for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and 2 1/2 behind the seventh-place Detroit Pistons. | Once up 19 points in the second quarter, a grisly third period torpedoed by a 6-for-23 shooting performance placed the Wizards (18-19) in a three-point hole to start the final quarter. A strong finish sealed their third straight victory and halted a four-game home losing streak. They now sit 11/2 games behind the Orlando Magic for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and 2 1/2 behind the seventh-place Detroit Pistons. |
| Milwaukee (16-25) outrebounded the Wizards 47-30, outscored them in the paint 62-38 and shot a blistering 52.8 percent from the field. But the positive numbers were negated by an onslaught of drawbacks: Milwaukee went just 1 for 8 from three-point range and committed 27 turnovers after accumulating a season-low five in its win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. | |
| “We did a great job, except for the third quarter,” Wizards point guard John Wall said. “When we started the third, we didn’t do a great job stopping one-on-one and giving some resistance in the post. That was the only thing that hurt us. | “We did a great job, except for the third quarter,” Wizards point guard John Wall said. “When we started the third, we didn’t do a great job stopping one-on-one and giving some resistance in the post. That was the only thing that hurt us. |
| Seven Wizards scored in double figures, topped by Wall’s 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Ramon Sessions, Wall’s backup, contributed 15 points, and Jared Dudley had 13 against his former team. Garrett Temple, still in Beal’s place in the starting lineup, recorded 11 points and a career-high five steals as Washington totaled 18. | |
| The Bucks had four players score at least 19 points: Khris Middleton paced them with 25, Jabari Parker added 22, Georgetown product Greg Monroe contributed 21, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, a 6-foot-11 wingman who played point guard for the entire fourth quarter, registered 19. But the firepower was limited to the starting lineup: Milwaukee’s bench was outscored 41-10. | |
| The Bucks posted 12 of the giveaways in the fourth quarter as the Wizards mounted their turnaround on strong defense behind Nene, their wily veteran, and Kelly Oubre Jr., their spry rookie. After not playing the entire first half, Oubre was given an opportunity in the third quarter when Otto Porter Jr. exited because of a hip injury and made an instant impact. | The Bucks posted 12 of the giveaways in the fourth quarter as the Wizards mounted their turnaround on strong defense behind Nene, their wily veteran, and Kelly Oubre Jr., their spry rookie. After not playing the entire first half, Oubre was given an opportunity in the third quarter when Otto Porter Jr. exited because of a hip injury and made an instant impact. |
| “I thought Kelly came in and helped change [the defensive mind-set] with his activity at the defensive end,” Coach Randy Wittman said. “We had 15 deflections in the fourth quarter alone.” | |
| [Otto Porter Jr. exits Wizards’ win over Bucks with hip injury] | |
| In his second straight start for the sidelined Marcin Gortat, Nene provided his usual physical presence in the middle and scored 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting in 25 minutes. | |
| “He’s huge and whatever we can do to keep him healthy, if it’s limiting him, whatever we need to do, giving him a personal yoga stretcher, whatever we need to do,” Dudley said. | “He’s huge and whatever we can do to keep him healthy, if it’s limiting him, whatever we need to do, giving him a personal yoga stretcher, whatever we need to do,” Dudley said. |
| Nene was given the start because Gortat is dealing with an infection in his left knee. The Wizards initially feared Gortat, who spent Tuesday and part of Wednesday at a hospital, had a staph infection, but they avoided the diagnosis. Wittman called Gortat’s status “day-to-day.” Kris Humphries, the Wizards’ third option at center, also was unavailable because of a knee injury. | |
| While Washington was without one starter, it returned another in Beal, though he came off the bench and will continue to do so in the near future. He checked in for the first time to replace Porter with the Wizards leading by nine and quickly drained a midrange jumper, delivered an assist in transition to Sessions and completed a fast-break with a two-handed slam before the end of the quarter. | While Washington was without one starter, it returned another in Beal, though he came off the bench and will continue to do so in the near future. He checked in for the first time to replace Porter with the Wizards leading by nine and quickly drained a midrange jumper, delivered an assist in transition to Sessions and completed a fast-break with a two-handed slam before the end of the quarter. |
| “Just being aggressive,” said Beal, who doesn’t expect to play in both games of Washington’s upcoming back-to-back set Friday and Saturday. “Just being confident in myself. Not worrying about anything.” | “Just being aggressive,” said Beal, who doesn’t expect to play in both games of Washington’s upcoming back-to-back set Friday and Saturday. “Just being confident in myself. Not worrying about anything.” |
| Beal missed his final five shots and finished 3 for 8 from the field to go with three rebounds and three assists. But his impact went beyond the statistics. The Wizards believe they are peaking, and as more pieces come together, they expect to continue ascending the standings. | |
| “A lot of teams are going to start realizing when we’re healthy,” Beal said, “we’re going to be tough to beat.” | “A lot of teams are going to start realizing when we’re healthy,” Beal said, “we’re going to be tough to beat.” |