Recapping the Washington Wizards v Chicago Bulls matchup 12/6

The Washington Wizards fell to the Chicago Bulls last night and it was not pretty for either team at various times throughout the game. Neither team really put together a major run other than in the first quarter.

The player of the game was Kristaps Porzingis, who led all scorers with 28 points along with nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals. He was excellent all around.

Kyle Kuzma and Monte Morris also combined for 38 points as the second and third leading scorers for the Wizards.

Let’s take a look at how the game went.

The Washington Wizards started out slow while the Chicago Bulls were red hot right out of the gate.

The Bulls got off to a quick start while the Wizards struggled to get good looks at the beginning of the game, over dribbling and not moving the ball well really hurt them in this quarter.

The Bulls went on a massive 14-4 run in the middle of the first period, the largest run of the game. This is what really set the Wizards behind in last night’s game as they didn’t fully recover until it was almost too late.

Turnovers also held the Wizards back as they made bad passes and were caller for a few travels early in the game. The Bulls did a great job of scoring off of these mistakes which didn’t help.

The Bulls end up winning the first quarter 29-22.

The defense really stepped up in the second quarter for the Washington Wizards.

As the game progressed, Deni Avdija stepped up on defense to help rally the team into a big second quarter. He deflected numerous passes and came up with a couple steals which led to fast break points. He even scored a few himself.

This is also the quarter where Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma started getting good looks at the bucket. While the quarter was incredibly back and forth due to great play from Patrick Williams, the Wizards were getting far better looks throughout the quarter.

Their consistent good looks on offense and much improved defense led to them winning the second quarter 27-23, although still trailing by three points.

Things really started going well in the third quarter.

While Kristaps Porzingis made his way to the free throw line nearly every other possession, the rest of the team started to make jump shots. The team had been really struggling from three and from the midrange up until this point in the game.

While they started hitting their jumpers, the defense held strong and propelled them to more good looks, helping the Wizards battle from behind.

Eventually the Wizards would take the lead 81-80 at the end of the period.

The fourth quarter went well until it didn’t.

The Wizards started the quarter off strong, expanding their lead to six points with around eight minutes left in the game, but then they went cold from deep again. Allowing the Bulls to scratch and claw their way back into the game.

By the time the Wizards started scoring again, it was too late, they were losing, and the Bulls had all the momentum on their side while playing in Chicago.

Deni Avdija made some major plays on defense down the stretch, but the Wizards could not capitalize on them as they failed to close rebound or score with consistency down the stretch.

While the game ended in a disappointing fashion, there were flashes of brilliance from numerous players. Coaches and fans alike should be happy with some of what they saw even if they aren’t happy with the finish.