Call it Deja Vu. For the second straight night, the Washington Wizards lost after blowing a lead of at least 20 points. Friday night, Washington led the Portland Trailblazers by 20 but lost 124-116 at home. On Saturday, the Wizards led the Brooklyn Nets by 23 points before losing 125-123.
Washington becomes the first team in the past 25 seasons to lose games on consecutive days after leading by at least 20 points, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Washington had to contend with the duo of Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons. However, the Nets were without Kevin Durant (MCL), Kyrie Irving (calf), and Ben Simmons (knee), the team’s best three players. Yet, the Wizards had no answer for the backcourt of Cam Thomas and Edmon Smner.
Thomas led the way with a career-high 44 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Sumner also had a career-high with 29 points.
Thomas’ 44 points are the most in NBA history by a bench player in under 30 minutes, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. Thomas shot 16-of-23 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.
To add injury to insult, the Wizards lost two of its top-three scorers to injury in the back-to-back losses. Friday, leading scorer Bradley Beal suffered a foot injury that kept him out of Saturday’s game against the Nets. Meanwhile, Kyle Kuzma exited Saturday’s game in the first half after spraining his left ankle.
The Wizards had a hot start against Brooklyn. Kristaps Porzingis came out on fire, scoring 16 points in the first quarter, as the Wizards rang up 44 points in the opening frame. Porzingis made all five field goal attempts, including 3-of-3 from three-point range.
The Wizards led 44-25 and took a 73-55 lead into halftime. However, the Nets rallied to outscore Washington 70-50 in the second half.
The Nets completed their comeback late in the fourth quarter. Porzingis fouled out with 2:51. The game went back and forth in the closing moments. Then, Monte Morris gave the Wizards a 123-122 lead before controversy struck.
Wizards center Daniel Gafford got called for goaltending as Deni Avdija fouled Thomas. The goaltending seemed close. But a review upheld the call on the floor. Thomas completed the three-point play with 12 seconds remaining to give Brooklyn a 125-123 lead.
The Wizards had a chance to right the ship. However, Corey Kispert missed a deep three with plenty of time on the clock. Gafford was fortunate to gather the offensive rebound. Morris got fouled, awarding him an opportunity to tie the game with two free throws.
But Morris missed both free throws as Thomas gathered the rebound running out the clock.
The Wizards appeared to be trending up with a six-game win streak, including five road wins. Yet, two disappointing losses have taken the wind out of their sail. Despite strong offensive performances by Porzingis and Avdija, the team’s defensive woes are glaring.
