Wizards end 5-game skid by beating Kings

Field Level Media|published: Thu 21st March, 21:53 2024

Mar 21, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; a21 reacts after being fouled by Washington Wizards forward Anthony Gill (16) during the first half at Capital One Arena. credits: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Kuzma scored a game-high 31 points, helping lead the Washington Wizards to a 109-102 win over the visiting Sacramento Kings on Thursday.

Deni Avdija added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards (12-58), while Corey Kispert scored 15 points. Jordan Poole chipped in 14 points and Richaun Holmes collected 16 rebounds for Washington, which ended a five-game skid.

De'Aaron Fox led the Kings (40-29) with 25 points and added six steals, five rebounds and five assists. Malik Monk scored 20 off the bench, Keegan Murray chipped in 16 points and Domantas Sabonis amassed 14 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Harrison Barnes had 12 points for Sacramento, which saw its two-game winning streak snapped.

After holding a two-point halftime lead, the Wizards used a 13-2 scoring run to start the second half and took a 69-56 advantage on a driving layup by Avdija with 8:36 left in the third.

Jared Butler's 3-pointer gave Washington its largest lead of the third quarter, as it extended the Wizards' advantage to 84-68 at the 3:06 mark.

From there, buckets from Sabonis and Murray, followed by four straight points from Monk, cut the Kings' deficit to 84-76 entering the final quarter.

The Kings kept it going in the fourth quarter, posting a 12-3 spurt — 10 points coming from Fox — to give the Kings an 88-87 lead with 8:42 left.

Poole responded with a three-point play, followed by Butler's layup, which jump-started a 10-3 Wizards run.

Leading 103-99, buckets from Kispert and Kuzma extended the bulge with 1:21 left, and the Kings got no closer than five the rest of the way.

In the first quarter, Anthony Gill's layup gave Washington a 27-19 lead at the 3:25 mark, and the Wizards held a 35-27 advantage after the quarter.

After a pair of free throws by Alex Len cut the Kings' deficit to six to open the second quarter, Gill capped a 7-0 that gave Washington a 42-29 lead at the 9:43 mark.

The Wizards' lead reached 19 when Kuzma's driving layup put Washington up 52-33 with 6:36 left.

However, a 21-2 Sacramento run was stamped with Barnes' dunk with 52 seconds remaining in the first half, knotting the score at 54.

Kuzma led the Wizards with 18 points in the first half, while Fox and Monk had 10 each for Sacramento.

—Field Level Media

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