On a night in which Bradley Beal couldn’t buy a bucket, it was Kyle Kuzma who stepped up big for the Washington Wizards.
Kuzma hit not one, but two clutch threes that propelled the Wizards to a 97-94 comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
The Wizards trailed by as many 10 points in the fourth quarter. They kept chipping away. But, a Darius Garland floater with 30.4 seconds had the Wizards trailing 93-89.
Following a timeout, the Wizards were looking for a quick bucket. They turned to Beal, but trapped along the baseline, the three-time all-star found an open Kuzma for a clutch corner three.
Down by one, the Wizards played the free throw, fouling Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio to send him to the line. Rubio made 1-of-2, giving the Wizards a shot down 94-92.
Fresh out of a timeout, once again the Wizards put the ball in Beal’s hand. Once again the Cavaliers played the situation well, trapping Beal. But a stumbling Beal once again found a wide open Kuzma.
And once again Kuzma delivered with a three from the opposite corner. The Wizards had their first lead of the second half at 95-94 with 11.4 seconds remaining.
Washington got a much-needed defensive stop, as Garland missed a three. The Wizards added a late bucket to win 97-94 to improve to an Eastern Conference-best 8-3 record.
The game’s hero Kuzma finished with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. That included him being 6-of-9 from three. He made four treys in the fourth quarter.
The Wizards’ Montrezl Harrell finished with a game-high 24 points. Beal struggled through a night he shot 4-of-19 from the field and finished with 13 points. Beal also had seven rebounds and seven assists — none of which were bigger than the two dishes to Kuzma in the clutch.
