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Met high expectations. Tonight (Thursday-Friday), Danny Abdia played his first official game at Madison Square Garden in front of full stands, and the truth is, the many Israelis / Jews who were present in the hall could not have asked for much more. At the end of a particularly intriguing battle Washington without Bradley Bill and Cantavius Caldwell Pop defeated the Knicks 117: 124, and Abdia continued his wonderful momentum in front of an audience that came to support him with a fourth straight game in double digits: 14 points (5 of 8 from the field, 1 of 4 from three , 3 of 4 from penalties), 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks (career high) in 29 minutes.
About two months after his disappointing loss-making appearance at Brooklyn (2 points without a field goal in 19 minutes), Abdia knew that his visit to New York must look different. The Israeli was not moved by the spotlight, came to a much sharper confrontation, was involved in the Wizards’ offensive game and at the same time – left his heart on the floor defending the Knicks in general and Julius Randall and Kamba Walker in particular.
Kamba, who just a moment ago was a foot and a half outside of New York (disabled for professional reasons), provided the game that the whole big apple was waiting for. The 31-year-old quarterback who returned home last summer exploded with 44 points (23 in the second quarter) on 52% from the field alongside 9 rebounds and 8 assists (0 turnovers), but scored only one basket in the final quarter (in which he was also blocked by Abdia ) And saw Washington spoil his exciting evening.
The Washington coordinator also made a gray period, and this is Spencer Dinwiddie. In Bill’s absence, a new Dinwidi could be seen leading the visitors with 21 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds. Rookie Corey Kispert celebrated a career-high 20 points, Kyle Kozma (18 points and 10 rebounds) sniped two critical three-pointers in the clutch, Arun Holiday added 16 and Montreux Harrell and Daniel Gaford scored 15 and 11 respectively on the way to a second straight win (previous On Utah outside) and balance 15:17. The team from the US capital presented very uncharacteristic numbers for it outside the arc – 16 threes at 43%.
By the way, Japanese forward Roy Hachimura dressed for the first time this season and was part of the Washington warm-up, but not a partner in the game. After the Christmas break, Abdia and the Wizards will line up for a home game between Sunday and Monday against Philadelphia, with the Israeli’s personal goal of course being to continue the good offensive momentum in his NBA career and record a fifth straight game in double digits.
the progress of the game:
Despite the absence of Bill and Coldwell Pop (isolation), Wes Ansald Jr. decided to go with Kispert in the top five and 84 seconds after the opening the Knicks led 0: 8. Kispert was the one who minimized damage with the Wizards’ first five points and Abdia saw Parquet for the first time 6:42 minutes into the first quarter, with his team trailing 15:10. On his first touch of the forward the ball took Taj Gibson to the basket and put up two, and towards the end of the quarter that ended at 27:31 to Washington, he added another basket in color after a no-ball move.
In the second quarter Kispert was the first of the visitors to go up to double digits, Abdia kicked a three from the corner and handed out a great assist in the passage to Kyle Kozma who finished in the sinking on the way to a 52:53 advantage, but those 12 minutes were signed by a man named Kamba Walker. The New York quarterback scored 23 points in the quarter (!), Including 10 in the final 1:43 minutes before the break, including a second hard-to-finish basket that bounced off the Garden and set up 57:64 for the hosts after 24 minutes.
Walker did not score a field goal in the first eight and a half minutes of the third quarter and the Wizards took advantage of this to regain the lead, but very quickly he returned the madness to the local fans. With a three and an offense, Kamba shrank to 83:78, and while he had a quarter left scored seven more on the way to 41 points in three quarters. Abdia Dyke twice from the line, finished with a double-digit layup and at the end of the third quarter Washington led 86:90.
Raul Neto opened the final quarter with three consecutive assists (for a three by Davis Bartans and two dunks by Harel) and Tom Thibodeau called a timeout when he fell behind 97:89. Abdia scored from the line and with a nice penetration, and also blocked Alec Brex on the other side, but Walker stopped the momentum with a three that shrank to 104: 100. Washington’s answer came from Dinwidi, who responded with five speeds en route to 102: 109 about four and a half minutes to go.
The roller coaster continued and after an Owen Fournier three-pointer the scoreboard showed 109: 107, not before Abdia blocked Kamba on defense. Washington showed a lot of character and with three straight threes from Holiday and Kozma (twice) the lead rose to 111: 118, less than a minute to go. Hence – New York failed to come back and finally suffered its eighth loss in 11 games.
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