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Restart Motor City. Washington interrupted tonight (Wednesday-Thursday) its three-game losing streak with a super-dramatic, 116-119 victory over Detroit after overtime, and Danny Abdia also got back to business after two bad games. Abdia played 21 minutes and finished with 10 points (4 of 9 from the field, 2 of 4 from three), 6 rebounds, a block and the highest plus-minus index in the game, 14+.
Abdia was Washington’s man in the first minutes when he reached 10 points already at the start of the second quarter, but he has not thrown since, and the one who said the last word in the match was the friend of the Israeli and Michigan kid, Kyle Kozma. 0.6 seconds to go Kozma (26 points) sniped a three-pointer that brought the air back to the United States capital and inflicted a tenth straight loss to Detroit that dropped to a 20: 4 balance. Immediately after the big basket, the hero of the evening waved goodbye to the local crowd.
Bradley Bill added 25, Cantavius Caldwell Pop 13 and Spencer Dinwidi helped up the 11:15 balance with 12 points and 7 assists. For the Pistons, who managed to lose a 14-point lead and come back from a 13-point deficit towards the end of legal time with a 3:16 run, Jeremy Grant scored 28 and Cade Cunningham showed sparks in the clutch on the way to 21st. Killian Hayes, the only European selected before losing in the 2020 draft (7th place), disappointed with 4 points on 25% from the field. From Friday to Saturday Detroit will host New Orleans and from Saturday to Sunday Utah will arrive in Washington.
KYLE KUZMA FOR THE WIN
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 9, 2021
The Wizards’ quintet remained the same, despite Wes Ansald Jr.’s hint of a possible change, and Abdia came up as usual in the middle of the first quarter with an aggressive offense we had not seen in any opening game of his career in the NBA. The forward equaled his career-high for a quarter-shot with six in the first quarter en route to 7 speed points, including a three-pointer (after two layoffs) on the verge of the quarter-break that closed out the first 12 minutes with a 27:29 lead for the hosts.
Abdia added a three from the corner about a minute and a half into the second quarter and after nine minutes on the floor – reached nine (!) Shots, a number we have not seen from him in one half since his 20-point game against Miami. The great ability didn’t leave him too much on the floor because of his three fouls, nor did it help his team that saw Detroit record a 0:14 run and take control of the game. Frank Jackson (finished with 19), Grant Cunningham led the Pistons to 52:60 at the break, while Trail and Abdia led the Wizards scoring in the first half.
Coldwell Pop was the one who changed the momentum early in the third quarter, Bill also stepped up gear (18 pairings in the quarter) and with 26:37 left in those 12 minutes Washington led 86:89 towards the final part of the tackle. Kozma opened the fourth quarter with a 0-8 personal run, Abdia and Daniel Gaford did a good job on defense, Anthony Gil added much-needed energy and the visitors fled for a double-digit lead.
Detroit did not give up and Frank Jackson stuck a three-pointer less than two minutes to the end that sealed a 1:12 run and narrowed the result to 104: 102. Then, after nearly five minutes without a field goal, Bill scored a big half-distance basket that set up a two-pointer distance, 102: 106. Isaiah Stewart managed to shrink with a light-colored basket, Bill lost the ball on the other side and Detroit had 12.9 seconds left to beat the thriller. Dwayne Casey went to Grant, who squeezed an offense and forced overtime with two penalty shots. Bill had a chance to decide with the buzzer, but the star failed to release a proper shot.
In overtime Dinwidi sniped a three that made it 110: 114 for Washington, but Cunningham equalized for 114: 114 about a minute to go. Bill returned the lead to the visitors, Cunningham equalized back with his fourth basket in a row, but Kozma as mentioned laughed last with a three-pointer 0.6 seconds to go.
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