John Wall Paces Washington Wizards Past Golden State Warriors
By Phil Watson
January 28, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) jumps for the rebound against Washington Wizards small forward Trevor Ariza (1) , power forward Trevor Booker (35), and center Marcin Gortat (4) in front of Warriors power forward David Lee (10, far right) during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Wizards defeated the Warriors 88-85. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
John Wall didn’t make a lot of shots Tuesday night at Oracle Arena, but the last one was definitely the biggest. Wall canned a 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining to put the Washington Wizards ahead 88-85 and that’s how it ended, with the Golden State Warriors falling into the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference with the loss.
The Warriors (27-19) missed three 3-pointers in the final 1:12, including a contested 3-ball that Stephen Curry launched with his left hand at the buzzer.
Golden State had battled back from as much as seven points down in the fourth quarter, taking a 79-77 lead with 6:37 to play on a step-back 3-pointer from Klay Thompson.
The lead was short-lived; Trevor Ariza tied it up on Washington’s next possession with a pair of free throws and after Andrew Bogut threw a bad pass, David Lee fouled Nene Hilario, who hit both free throws to put the Wizards back in front. Ariza’s driving layup with 5:05 to go put Washington (22-22) up five, but Golden State rallied to tie it back up getting a pull-up 3-ball from Curry with 2:40 to go and making it 85-85 when David Lee drove and scored with 1:47 left.
The Warriors, who had been struggling defensively in recent weeks, turned in a solid effort on the defensive end. The problem was that the offense was visited once again by the turnover bug—Golden State gave the ball away 19 times, leading to 21 points for the Wizards.
Washington was 34-for-90 (37.8 percent) overall, 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from 3-point range and 10-for-15 (66.7 percent) at the line. Golden State was 30-for-80 (37.5 percent), 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) and 18-for-23 (78.3 percent).
The Warriors’ shooting woes were widespread. Curry was just 8-for-23, Thompson made just 5-of-17, Andre Iguodala was just 2-for-7 and Lee was 2-for-10.
Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 20 points. Nene added 16, Wall had 15 to go with five assists and three steals on 6-of-19 shooting and Martell Webster added 10. Ariza had three steals and 11 rebounds and Marcin Gortat had 12 boards.
Curry paced the Warriors with 23 points, four assists and four steals. Thompson added 13 points and four dimes, Lee had 11 points and Andrew Bogut had 14 rebounds and three blocked shots. Iguodala also had three steals.
Off the bench, Marreese Speights tied a season high with nine rebounds in just 14 minutes.
The Warriors fell to a disappointing 1-3 on their five-game homestand, which wraps up Thursday night when the Los Angeles Clippers visit Oracle Arena for the first time since the chippy Christmas night contest.