At 9:00 a.m. Beijing time on December 18, a new round of NBA regular season matchups is in full swing, with the Suns hosting the Wizards. The Suns have been stumbling so far this season, with Beal, one of the Big Three, suffering another 90-degree sprain in his second game after returning from a back injury. The 35-year-old veteran Durant has had to carry the team's average playing time of 37 minutes per game and has only missed four games so far. But the Suns have been very poor lately, losing to the Nets and Knicks in the last two games. The Suns also dropped to 13-12 and are in 10th place in the West.
The Wizards finally ended their losing streak in their last game against the Pacers and increased their season win total to four. However, for the Wizards, this season's swing is rotten, and the sudden change of head coach Wess Jr. has made the Wizards indeed more competitive. In particular, by separating Poole from Jones and Kuzma, Poole's possession has increased and his form has changed. In the last game against the Pacers, Poole scored 30 points on 67 percent shooting. If the Wizards continue to use this tactic against the Suns, they can expect Poole to continue that form. The Suns used Durant, Booker, Nurkic, Allen and Little in the starting lineups for this game. The Wizards fielded Kuzma, Poole, Afdia, Jones and Gafford in the field.
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, Allen of the Suns broke through the backhand layup to take the lead, Durant scored a dunk in the air, and Booker immediately followed up with a three-pointer. Wizards Poole, Jones, and Kuzma quickly responded with three three-pointers, and the Suns' defense was useless from the start. Afdia, Gafford , Kuzma, Poole and Jones, the entire Wizards have players on the floor who can break through and score with the ball. In less than half a quarter, the Wizards extended their lead to double digits. The Suns only had Durant struggling to support him, scoring 11 points in a row in a single quarter. Late period, veteran Gordon hit a three-pointer in time to chase down the score. At the end of the first quarter, the Suns trailed the Wizards by eight points, 21-29.
In the second quarter of the game, the Suns bench Eubanks and Gordon scored 6 points in a row, while the Wizards' offense came to a standstill. Nearly four minutes later, Jones hit two consecutive three-pointers to score eight points in a row. Gallinari follows up from the outside. Not to be outdone, the Suns scored four points in a row with Metu on the court, Durant assisted Little to score an empty cut, and then his own mid-range shooting was also successful. In the final period, Wizards Kuzma scored five points with a burst shot, and the margin returned to double digits again. At halftime, the Suns trailed the Wizards by 12 points, 46-58.
In halftime statistics, Durant scored 13 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 1 steal on 6-of-11 shooting. Booker finished with 10 points, three rebounds and four assists on 4-of-13 shooting. Allen had 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Gordon finished with nine points and one rebound on 4-of-7 shooting. Eubanks had 4 points and 2 baskets. On the Wizards' side, Jones had 15 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 1 block on 6-of-8 shooting. Kuzma had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Poole had five points, two rebounds and two assists on 2-of-5 shooting. Gafford had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
In the second half of the game, Nurkic scored a strong basket, Durant and Booker also scored baskets successively, and Little continued to firepower on the outside. The Wizards were able to respond, with Jones scoring five straight points on a jumper, Poole and Gafford scoring free throws in the paint area, and Kuzma scoring five points in a row from the outside. Durant finally found his offensive crosshairs, making 0 outside shots in a single quarter, scoring 11 straight points on 50% shooting. Booker also scored six points from mid-range, and the margin finally narrowed to single digits. But the Wizards Poole and Koulibaly hit two three-pointers in a row to stabilize the advantage. At the end of the third quarter, the Suns trailed the Wizards by eight points, 81-89.
In the final quarter of the game, Eubanks turned and scored four points in a row, Booker hit a solid mid-range shot, and it was Booker's turn to take over the game in this quarter. Booker hit two three-pointers in a row from the outside, scoring 9 points and leading the team to a wave of 11-4 to overtake the score. Goodwin also seized the opportunity to cut into the air, scoring four points in a row. The Wizards fell into a scoring drought again, and in the final minute, the Suns took a five-point lead. However, within 20 seconds, the Wizards Avdija hit two free throws, and Poole and Gafford hit the basket, and a wave of 6-2 closed the gap to 1 point. Fortunately, Durant stepped up in time and broke through the violent dunk to make it 2+1 and bring the Suns back to the "safe zone". In the end, the Suns won the Wizards 112-108!The Wizards led the Suns by as many as 16 points at most.
In the game, Durant scored 28 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on 10-of-23 shooting. Booker finished with 27 points, four rebounds and eight assists on 10-of-24 shooting, and 3-of-11 from the field. Nurkic had 6 points, 17 rebounds and 5 assists. Allen had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Gordon 13 points. Goodwin had 7 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Eubanks had 12 points and five rebounds. On the Wizards' side, Kuzma had 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists on 7-of-21 shooting. Poole finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists on 4-of-15 shooting. Avdija had 5 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Jones had 22 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists. Gafford had 26 points and 17 rebounds on 10-of-13 shooting.
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