There was no suspense in the Capital One arena in Washington this Sunday evening, where the Wizards suffered an eleventh straight defeat at home, and the Phoenix law, which completed its 29th victory with a river score ( 140-112). The Suns’ record this season in regulation time (they beat Utah on November 20 140-137 after two overtimes).
Bradley Beal, warmly welcomed for his return to the court in his eleven previous seasons (22.1 points on average), poured plenty of water into the basket of his former franchise, with 43 points scored (16/21 shooting, 4/5 scoring). three points, 7/7 free throw). The man in the black mask (due to a broken nose) added 6 assists and 2 rebounds.
If Washington tried to limit the damage in defense, the Suns took an exponential lead, with 42 points scored in the first quarter (61.4% shooting efficiency in total), and a lead of 30 lengths to the start of the last twelve minutes. Enough to rotate the squad, and give playing time to the entire bench (14 players in total). Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic added 18 units each.
Bilal Coulibaly, starter with the Wizards, notably deprived of Kyle Kuzma (shoulder), did not shine. He scored no points in 25 minutes (0/2 shooting, 1 rebound, 1 turnover).
Orlando assures Detroit
The other match of the evening pitted Detroit against Orlando. The Magic won 111-99, led by Franz Wagner, author of 38 points (4/7 off the racket), including 16 in the last ten minutes, which allowed Orlando to take off while Detroit was once again returned to his height, on the combined actions of Alec Burks (10 points) and Marcus Sasser (6). Paolo Banchero, valuable in passing (7) and rebounding (6, including 5 defensive), scored 20 units.
Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey (18 points each) and the Pistons suffered a 43rd defeat this season, while Orlando provisionally passed the Pacers with 27 victories.
