Washington, D.C. – Comparing the 34-35 Washington Wizards’ battle back from an 18-point deficit at the Verizon Center against the 28-43 New York Knicks reflected a “Rocky” theme with the home team never giving up… even while being dominated. Washington didn’t just win the fight… the team won the night. The Wizards found their “Balboa” in the second half and with pure playoff hunger as they pounded away at the Knicks for a knockout victory and stole the game with their fourth straight win. The final score was 99-89.
The first half of the game was so miserable that Wizards fans had begun to anticipate another loss. They were trailing New York, looked out of sync and couldn’t make a basket to beat the band. New York’s lead ballooned from nine-points in the first quarter to 18 with Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony making baskets around Wizards guard Otto Porter like he was invisible.
Typically, Washington usually does not come back from deficits of 10 points, never mind 18. In previous games, the Wizards would have closed up shop but they didn’t in this game. Something was different about them. They were more confident, even in the midst of potential defeat. Also, this was another “must win” for the 10th-in-the-Eastern-Conference-and-1½-games-out-of-the-eighth-final-spot-in-the-playoffs-behind-the-Chicago-Bulls-and-Detroit-Pistons team. It might have been the nod of: “I know you can do this” approval from Head Coach Randy Wittman that did it… as well as the critical last-minute roster change.
These apparently were just what were needed to turn the game around.
“When we were down 29-20,” Wittman said, “believe or not, I told them: ‘We’re all right.’ They thought I was crazy but I really felt that way.”
Washington, with its ninth-straight win at home (which broke the series tie [2-1] against New York), had no easy task… especially since this was the largest of comebacks for the Wizards this season and they were just shooting at 35 percent. The last time they came back from such a large deficit was when they beat the Sacramento Kings in March 2015 when they were down by 21 points.
But in this game, Wizards point guard John Wall brought his team back from the brink of another loss with his 42nd double-double (24 points), 10 assists, two rebounds and just one turnover.
but New York’s shooting percentage had ballooned to 58 percent before the half.
“In the past, if we were missing shots we would just give up in the game and not play defense,” Wall said. “We just kept talking and said ‘we’ve got to keep competing. Shots will fall later on.’”
Resilience was key for Washington as it began chopping away at New York’s lead, down going into the half and closing in, 53-43. As the Wizards were picking up their game early in the third, the Knicks began to crack offensively under the pressure. Also, Wittman made a critical line-up switch earlier that began to clamp down on Anthony’s game. He had averaged 35 points in previous games with season-high scoring but, with Wizards power forward Markieff Morris checking him, the playing field was about to change.
In the first quarter, Porter and teammate Alan Anderson (guard) struggled to guard Anthony. But with Morris staying on him, the 10-time All-Star was held to just 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting in the remaining three quarters. Morris, who is 6’10”, kept making Anthony work for his shots with his physicality and reach.
“He is a great scorer so we wanted to get more size on him,” Morris said. “[We wanted to get] a little physical with him and keep him away from the basket a little more.”
The Wizards power forward stayed one step ahead of Anthony, stepping outside and keeping Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis in check with his versatility as a player. Morris was crucial to Washington’s win. Anthony finished up with just 20 points.
The Knicks went 14-of-24 (58 percent) shooting early-on but after the half they dropped to 38 percent and were held to 18-of-57 shooting. The Wizards improved from 38 to 48.4 percent. Morris finished the night with 17 points, four rebounds and an assist.
Washington was hot in the third and went on a 7-0 run with two slams from Morris on passes from Wall, increasing its lead by 11 to bring it to 74-63. The Wizards outscored New York in the third quarter, scoring 33 to 13. Even Washington forward NeNe got in on the action with his coast-to-coast run to score and a lay-up in the fourth with nine minutes left in the game.
NeNe had seven points, three rebounds and two assists.
The final blows came from Porter with two huge three-pointers in the fourth which brought the score to 99-89.
All five Wizards starters finished the game with double figures.
It was a great win for Washington but with the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons both having wins last night, the Wizards are in the same playoff spot. That eighth spot may actually come down to a three-team race to the end.
Washington has a good chance to make the playoffs but it obviously must win while the other teams lose.