The Washington Wizards have won a varied game against the Chicago Bulls. Bradley Beal plays a great game and has support at the crucial moment.
The fact that Rookie Lauri Markkanen alone had fired 8 throws after 5 minutes was proof enough: The Bulls started the evening at breathtaking speed and caught the hosts on the wrong foot. The result was a first early, comfortable advantage and also had passed the complete first half time, meanwhile it was even 11 points ahead.
But the wizards couldn’t be shaken completely and managed to generate their own runs with several highlight layouts. In addition, their own threesomes were impressive (47 per cent at halftime), which is why they were able to remain optimistic despite everything, when they entered the mid-term cabin (69:63).
After changing sides, there wasn’t much change in the course of the game at first. The Bulls stayed in the front line (also Nikola Mirotic was in the lead with three players), but thanks to Bradley Beal the wizards stayed in the race, so the final section was the decisive point. For the first time there, the captains of the capital city managed to force several stops in a row, so that 8 minutes before the end, after their own successes in the offense, the first lead of the game jumped out (94:93).
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The Verizon Center, which saw a hot closing phase with many changes of leadership, also woke up from this. Again and again it was the outstanding Beal (39 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) who collected point by point with great actions – from downtown or per drive. The Bulls continued to put their stitches on the needle: The strong Kris Dunn (19 points, 11 assists) scored 54 seconds before the end with a stepback jumper to 110:107 for his team. But it wasn’t enough: A layup by Beal and a three-point game by John Wall (21 points, 9 assists) brought the hosts to a final victory, although Beal left two free-throw throws before the end. His team got the offensive rebound and Wall made it better off the line.
Beside Beal and Wall, Mike Scott won the wizards with 17 points, while Bulls top scorer was Nikola Mirotic with 21 points. Paul Zipser was on the field for 14 minutes, but did not score a point.