CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)– Naging problema ang road games para sa Washington Wizards sa nakaraang anim na linggo at malaki ang naging epekto nito sa kanilang NBA standings.
Kaya naman ang kanilang 95-69 na pagwawagi sa Charlotte Hornets kahapon ay napakaimportante.
‘’We just want to get back to winning,’’ sabi ng guard na si John Wall, na nagtala ng 15 puntos at 9 assists. ‘’We’ve had so many games lately, and haven’t been ourselves. Hopefully, we can keep improving off this game and keep doing well.’’
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Umiskor si Marcin Gortat ng 20 puntos, nagdagdag si Bradley Beal ng 14 at 12 naman kay Kevin Seraphin para sa Washington, na pinutol ang kanilang nine-game road losing streak.
‘’We just needed a win, we needed to play like this and win,’’ ani Wizards coach Randy Wittman. ‘’We knew that Charlotte was going to be one of the harder teams. They had won five in a row, and averaging almost 105 points in those wins.”
‘’We knew those guys were firing on all cylinders, and we knew we had to come with our best stuff tonight.’’
Ang Washingon ay 44-of-85 mula sa field (51.8 percent) at mayroong 49-37 rebounding advantage sa pagtalo sa Hornets sa unang pagkakataon sa tatlong paghaharap.
“They had been beating us pretty handily,’’ sambit ni Wall. ‘’We just wanted to come out and play the right way. We only have 18 games left. We want to try to get back to playing the way we played early in the season.’’
Umiskor si Mo Williams ng 19 puntos para sa Charlotte, na nagkasya sa 32.5 percents (25-of-77) sa shooting at nagkamit ng 16 turnovers para sa kanilang lowest-scoring game ngayong season at tapusin ang five-game winning streak.
Si Al Jefferson ay nagdagdag ng 14 puntos habang 12 naman ang nagmula kay Lance Stephenson para sa Hornets, na lumamang ng dalawang beses sa unang 2 1/2 minuto, ang huli sa 9-8 mula sa three-point play ni Williams sa nalalabing 9:21 ng unang yugto.
Ngunit nakuha ng Washington ang kontrol sa kanilang sunud-sunod na pag-atake, nakakuha ng pitong sunod sa field goals at 12-of-13 sa sumunod na 6 1/2 minuto upang umabante sa 26-15 sa likod ng dunk ni Nene, may 5:25 natitira sa kaparehong quarter.
Nahawakan ng Wizards ang 36-21 kalamangan sa pagtatapos ng first quarter, at itinulak ang margin sa 19 sa maagang bahagi ng second quarter, 42-23, matapos ang jumper ni Seraphin sa huling 9:26 bago ang break.
‘’They were just more ready than we were,’’ sabi ni Jefferson. ‘’They had a game plan, and probably had a little bad taste in their mouth, and they showed it.’’
