By Lewis Gould
Bradley Beal didn’t play because of a sore hip, so Spencer Dinwiddie and Kyle Kuzma stepped up for the Wiz last night.
Dinwiddie scored 34 points — including a tying 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter — and Kuzma added 26 to lift the Wizards to a 135-134 overtime win over the Indiana Pacers.
Obviously, Brad being out, I can still be aggressive, and my volume’s going to be higher,” Kuzma said. “If he’s in playing, I might be lower. But I’m going to play the same every game.”
Kuzma and Dinwiddie came to the Wizards in the offseason as part of a roster makeover that included trading star point guard Russell Westbrook to the Lakers.
Davis Bertans made a 3-pointer with 34.4 seconds left in overtime that put the Wizards up 134-131. Chris Duarte missed a 3 at the other end for Indiana, and Kuzma made a free throw with 6.7 seconds left to give Washington a four-point lead.
Indiana’s Malcolm Brogdon made a 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Myles Turner scored a career-high 40 points for the Pacers, and Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis added 28 apiece.
“It’s frustrating,” Turner said. “From a personal standpoint, this is something that I want people to get accustomed to. I think this is the way I can play night in and night out. As a team, this one hurts.”
The Wizards and Pacers picked up right where they left off last season — with a pulsating first half that ended tied at 73. Washington won all three regular-season meetings and another in the play-in round of the playoffs in 2020-21. The scores of those games were 132-124, 154-141, 133-132 (in overtime) and 142-115.
The Pacers rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and led 123-117 before two 3s by Dinwiddie forced overtime. The second of those came with 33.6 seconds left in the fourth.
Dinwiddie did miss a 3 at the end of regulation that could have won it.
Indiana scored the first six points of overtime, but the Wizards fought back to tie it on another 3 by Dinwiddie.
“The zone disrupted their rhythm for a stretch there. Then they were able to get a couple 3s in,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “Bertans hit a tough one. Dinwiddie hit a tough one. The shot-making right now in the league is amazing to watch. Beyond belief, really.”
Be the first to comment