For more than two decades, the Washington Wizards losing to the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio was guaranteed as much as death and taxes. However, Monday night, the Wizards changed that.
Deni Avdija scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting with nine rebounds. Meanwhile, Bradley Beal had 21 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists as the Wizards beat the Spurs 127-106. The win is Washington’s first in San Antonio in 23 years, spanning 8,451 days.
The Wizards hadn’t beaten the Spurs in San Antonio since December 11, 1999. Mitch Richmond was the leading scorer in the game for the Wizards with 31 points. They’d lost 22 straight games in the Alamo. Bill Clinton was the President of the United States the last time the Wizards won in San Antonio.
Michael Jordan, Gilbert Arenas, and John Wall never beat the Spurs in San Antonio in a Wizards uniform. Until Monday, Bradley Beal hadn’t got a win there through the first ten years of his career.
“Being here 11 years, haven’t won here ever – that’s kind of crazy,” Beal said, per Ava Wallace of the Washington Post. “Feels good to knock that off the list.”
Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was an advanced scout with the team in 1999.
Coincidentally, the Wizards’ losing ways in San Antonio began as the Spurs started their long run as perennial NBA title contenders under Greg Popovich and Tim Duncan. There were a lot of lean years in Washington during that streak. But even the playoff teams led by Arenas and Wall didn’t pick up a win in San Antonio. That streak spanned through two Spurs’ home arenas, the Alamodome and AT&T Center.
Of course, the Spurs of today are not the Spurs of the past. San Antonio is 14-37 on the season and looking to land a top pick in next summer’s NBA draft to rebuild the roster. However, the Wizards have a lot to celebrate. Washington’s six straight wins are the league’s longest active win streak.
The string of wins has positioned the Wizards into the play-in tournament picture and 3.5 games back of sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
