The Washington Wizards have been playing with a new sense of urgency over the last couple of weeks, as the team's young core continues to gel down the back half of the season.
At one point, Washington was in the midst of a three-game winning streak, but it was overshadowed by the NBA trade deadline during last week's chaotic week of news and roster shakeups. However, there's no denying that while the Wizards have yet to earn double-digit wins on the season, their effort as of late has been a breath of fresh air for fans of the team.
Carrying their new-found confidence into a home matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, the Wizards had a chance to earn their 10th win of the season. And at one point in the game, a 19-point lead over the Pacers seemed like Washington was well on their way to another victory, and over an Eastern Conference playoff team at that.
Unfortunately, the Wizards weren't able to maintain their lead which led to a late-game comeback from the Pacers as their bench took over down the stretch. After a tied score of 120-120, Washington was forced into overtime where they eventually fell to Rick Carlisle's squad 134-130 in the end.
In the end, Washington can point fingers to multiple players for the loss, but these two Wizards are free from any blame.
Jordan Poole explodes on offense, Kispert shines off bench
Jordan Poole entered this game looking to will his team to a win and he nearly did exactly that. The Michigan product finished the night with a game-high 42 points, 5 assists and 2 rebounds, while shooting 15/29 from field goal range and 6/15 from beyond the arc.
For Washington fans that have watched Poole all season long, these offensive explosions aren't new to the fanbase. In fact, this is the exact reason that not only the Wizards, but Warriors have/had faith that the playmaker could eventually put it altogether. And who knows, maybe he still can.
Despite not being named to the All-Star game, Poole put on an All-Star performance on Wednesday.
In addition to Poole, one player off the Wizards bench thrived in this loss as well, Corey Kispert. The sharpshooter ended this battle with 21 points, while shooting 80% from field goal range including five threes.
Unfortunately, Poole and Kispert's combined 63 points weren't enough to overcome the Pacers bench explosion with Obi Toppin and Bennedict Mathurin combining for 59 points of their own,
Now, the Wizards will head into All-Star break with a 9-45 record.