Washington Wizards were seconds away from spoiling their 13th straight victory at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, but managed to close it out.
For the most part – not counting the disappointing start to the season – the Washington Wizards have lacked #SoWizards moments in the 2016-17 campaign.
But on Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Wizards were seconds away from having a historical #SoWizards moment.
Washington led by double-digits for most of the first half, showing their dominance at home against the consistently productive Grizzlies.
Behind John Wall‘s distribution, the Wizards led by 18 points and appeared to be coasting to their 13th straight victory inside the Verizon Center.
Slowly, as the Grizzlies prefer it, Washington’s offense stagnated.
The Wizards scored 30 points in the first quarter and followed it up with an even better scoring output in the second with 36.
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But in the third quarter, right after the Grizzlies got done making halftime adjustments, their offense became muddy,.
Washington scored just 17 points in the third quarter and the Grizzlies cut their lead to single digits.
In the fourth quarter, with just seconds remaining, the Grizzlies managed to trim the deficit to just two.
Despite struggling late in the game, the Wizards had what should’ve been the final possession.
After inbounding the ball, Bradley Beal was swarmed by the Grizzlies, including Marc Gasol, who essentially jumped on his back.
Instead of calling a foul, the official blew his whistle in favor of the Grizzlies, calling a jump-ball.
As the Wizards’ luck would have it, the Grizzlies won the jump-ball, giving themselves one more opportunity to tie the game with a 3-point shot.
Mike Conley maneuvered his way around the Wizards’ defenders and found James Ennis wide open behind the arc. Ennis clanked the shot off the front of the rim, ending the Grizzlies’ hopes of beating the Wizards in overtime again this season.
It wasn’t a pretty win, but it’s a win regardless.
The Wizards came out on top, 104-101, and will take on the New York Knicks on Thursday night on national television (TNT).
Here are the three takeaways from Wednesday’s win.