On December 18, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and the Suns hosted the Wizards. The Suns fielded players like Durant, Booker, Nurkic, Allen, and Little, while the Wizards fielded players like Kuzma, Poole, Avdija, Jones, and Gafford out.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Allen of the Suns broke through and scored a backhand layup to give the team the lead. Subsequently, Durant scored on an empty cut, and Booker immediately followed up with a three-point shot. The Wizards' Kuzma, Poole and Jones responded quickly with three-pointers. In the face of the Suns' defense, the Wizards' starting five kept attacking the Suns' interior layups to score. In less than half quarter, the Wizards extended their lead to double digits. Durant scored 11 straight points in the first quarter to tie the score. With Gordon hitting a three-pointer from the outside, the Suns trailed the Wizards by eight points at 21-29 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Suns' Eubanks and Gordon scored six consecutive points, and the Wizards' offense stalled. Nearly four minutes later, Jones scored two consecutive three-pointers to score eight straight points. Gallinari, who followed up on the outside, also contributed. Not to be outdone, the Suns scored four straight points as Metu scored four points in a row, Durant assisted Little to score in the air, and then made his own mid-range shot. The Wizards' Kuzma hit five straight points to bring the margin back to double digits. At halftime, the Suns trailed the Wizards by 12 points, 46-58.
In the second half, Nurkic scored on the basket, Durant and Booker also scored on the basket, and Little continued to fire on the outside. The Wizards were able to respond. Jones suddenly hit five consecutive points, Poole and Gafford continued to attack the inside to make fouls and score, and Kuzma picked up the knife from the outside and scored five points in a row. Durant broke out again, scoring 11 straight points, and Booker also scored six points from mid-range to close the gap to single digits. Poole and Kalidou Koulibaly hit two three-pointers in quick succession to stabilize the Wizards' advantage. At the end of the third quarter, the Suns trailed the Wizards by eight points, 81-89.
In the final quarter, Eubanks turned and hooked up to score four points. Booker suddenly exploded, hit a mid-range pull-up jump shot, and hit two consecutive three-pointers from the outside, leading the team to an 11-4 comeback score. Goodwin also seized the opportunity to cut into the air, scoring four points in a row. The Wizards were once again in a scoring drought, with the Suns leading by five points in the final minute. However, the Wizards' Afdija scored two free throws in 20 seconds and Poole and Gafford scored on the inside to put a 6-2 deficit close to one point. At the critical moment, Durant successfully hit the inside dunk and scored and caused the opponent to foul and score 2+1, killing the game. In the end, the Suns won 112-108 against the Wizards!
For the Suns, Durant had 28 points, five rebounds and five assists. Booker had 27 points, four rebounds and eight assists. Nurkic had six points, 17 rebounds and five assists. Allen had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. Gordon scored 13 points. Goodwin had seven points, eight rebounds and five assists. Eubanks had 12 points and five rebounds.
For the Wizards, Kuzma had 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Poole had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Avdija had five points, five rebounds and two assists. Jones had 22 points, four rebounds and 11 assists. Gafford had 26 points and 17 rebounds.