continues to sink. The Washington Wizards and Danny Abadia surrendered tonight (between Saturday and Sunday) 102:93 to the Los Angeles Clippers, missed an opportunity to beat the team from the City of Angels at home for the first time in 14 years and recorded their ninth loss in a row. As far as Avdia is concerned, the Israeli forward can at least be satisfied with his personal ability after he finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists, but they also did not stop Kawhi Leonard who recorded a season high of 31 points.
The first half actually belonged to the guest. Already from the first quarter, Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Prozingis took the game over and led the Wizards to an eight-point lead after 12 minutes. In the second quarter, the Wizards pressed the pedal even more and already gained a double-digit lead, but Kawhi Leonard in a huge evening kept the host alive and the second quarter ended with a small advantage for Danny Abdia’s team, who scored three points in the first half, but demonstrated excellent defensive ability.
In the second half we already got a different Clippers. Kawhi Leonard and Luke Kennard continued the revival from the first half, and despite the Wizards’ defensive and offensive ability, nothing could stop Kawhi, who narrowed the gap to only three points. In the fourth quarter, the match was completely equal, with each possession passing the advantage from side to side. Despite the return of stability in the game, Kawhi Leonard surpassed everyone and with a season high of 31 points, led the Clippers to a convincing victory at the end.
In terms of the rest of the way, Danny Avdia and his friends will stay in the city of angels when they meet the Lakers in the next game and try to break the losing streak against LeBron James. On the other hand, Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers will look for another victory when they host Charlotte.
First quarter: 20:28 for the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards five: Danny Abadia, Monte Morris, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Kuzma, Corey Kispert.
Five Los Angeles Clippers: Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, Moussa Diabate, John Wall, Kawhi Leonard.
The host opened the quarter with a quick three-pointer by Nicolas Batum, but five quick points by Kristaps Porzingis and Corey Kispert gave the guest the first lead. On the other hand, Kawhi Leonard got on the board with two accurate shots from the penalty line and together with a quick basket by Diabata reduced the Wizards’ advantage by a point. A big block by Danny Abedia got Monte Morris out for a breakaway and an easy two with the board, which along with a quick basket by Prozingis sent Tyronn Lue to the back office to call a timeout with the host trailing by five.
Despite the early timeout, it seems that the host is still back on the field. Jordan Goodwin and Monte Morris stepped up and the Wizards were up 22:14 three minutes to the end of the first quarter. Marcus Morris had already narrowed the lead to just four 1:18 to the end of the quarter, but Daniel Jefford scored twice from the line and slightly increased the guest’s advantage. In the last seconds of the quarter, two by Will Barton and an impressive dunk by Kyle Kuzma increased the guest’s lead to eight points at the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter: 50:57 to the Washington Wizards
The second quarter opened at a dizzying pace, when in just three minutes the Wizards took their first double-digit lead of the evening with quick baskets by Kyle Kuzma and Monte Morris that set an impressive 29:42 for the guest. A quick 3-pointer by Kawai after the timeout reduced the lead to only ten, but the guest continued to control the defensive rebound and went on a burst that ended with a hard 3-pointer by Will Barton. But despite the escape of the Wizards, five consecutive by Kawhi narrowed the gap to only seven and stopped the run of Danny Avdia and his friends six minutes to the end of the quarter.
Corey Kispert restored the double-digit lead with four straight points in less than a minute, and together with Danny Avdia’s first three-pointer of the evening, the Wizards rose to their record lead of the evening, 37:52. Despite the 15 point gap, the Clippers slowly came back into the picture. Kawhi was again unmoved and with a huge three-point move over Jordan Goodwin’s head and a steal from a confused Danny Abdia, the host’s forward narrowed the gap to just six. The Israeli forward gave a great message to Prozingis who buried two easy ones, when on the other hand a three-pointer by Marcus Morris reduced it to only five in favor of Washington, but the Wizards also have their own Morris, Monte Morris, who increased the lead back to seven points with a fade-away from the paint at the buzzer.
Third quarter: 72:75 to the Washington Wizards
Leonard started the second half exactly as he finished the first with two from half distance and another point from the line that reduced the gap to only four. Danny Avdia continued to dominate the rebound, but his teammates were unable to translate the height advantage into points. Turnovers by Morris and Kuzma and a foul under the basket by Danny Avdia (his third of the night) sent John Wall to the line, from which the guard only dunked once. Danny Avdia with two quick ones slightly increased the Wizards’ lead to five, but Kawhi didn’t stop and with five consecutive points the score was 59:59. On the other hand, a crazy 3-pointer by Kyle Kuzma at the buzzer gave the lead back to the Wizards.
Danny added a steal and two from the free throw line after a Marcus Morris foul and Kyle Kuzma took advantage of Kawhi’s foul from the three-point line to put the guest ahead by five. Luke Kenrad buried a three-pointer that narrowed the gap to just two, but a huge dunk by Danny restored the five-point advantage to the Wizards three and a half minutes into the quarter. Godwin added two more from the line, but Amir Kofi with the first points of the evening shrunk to only four. Coffey with two from the penalty line had already shrunk to only two less than a minute to the end of the quarter, but a basket and a foul by Goodwin increased the guest’s advantage to 70:75.
Fourth quarter: 93:102 to the Los Angeles Clippers
The fourth quarter opened with a precise three-pointer by Will Barton, but two by Luke Kennard, and four more points during one run by Brandon Boston and Amir Coffey restored the advantage to the Clippers for the first time since the first quarter. Danny’s fifth assist tonight to Prozingis reduced the host’s lead to just one point, and a loss of the ball by the Clippers allowed the Latvian center to return the advantage to Danny and his friends. A fantastic defense by Avdia led to a quick burst that ended with Barton’s 3-pointer that sealed a 0:7 run for the guest eight minutes to the end. Nicolas Batum with a great offensive rebound reduced the score to only two, and another offensive rebound by Terrence Mann equalized the score at 85:85.
Luke Kennard sealed a 6-0 counter run by the host to put the Clippers ahead by two, but the Latvian center of the guest tied the score with less than six minutes to go. A huge defensive move by Danny brought the ball to Monte Morris who did not take advantage, when on the other hand Nicholas Batum punished with a three and Kawhi sewed two more to increase the Clippers’ lead to five points 03:00 to end the game. Kawhi restored the advantage to five after two quick ones by Kuzma that tried to restore the advantage to the guest, but no less than seven consecutive points by the Clippers star on the way to a season high, simply ended the ambitions of the group from the capital city that failed to come back until the end and surrendered for the ninth time in a row.