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The Wizards continued their dominance against the Magic, winning at the Verizon Center on New Year's Day. The Magic jumped out to an early lead as the Wizards struggled to score against Scott Skiles defensive-minded squad. But the Wizards ramped up their own defensive pressure, getting 12 fast break points in the first quarter alone. The Wizards ended the first half up 24-21.
In the third quarter, the Wizards quickly pushed the lead to 12, but excellent offensive execution from the Magic killed the Wizards’ transition scoring opportunities. The game was tied going into the fourth quarter.
The game stayed close until about the 5:30 mark in the quarter, when a three from Kris Humphries and a scoring outburst from John Wall (nine points in the final five minutes) broke the game open and the Wizards won, 103-91.
The John Wall and Otto Porter Show
Wall and Porter led all scorers with 24 and 20, respectively. Wall was in full highlight mode on both ends of the floor, including this block leading to a transition bucket:
John Wall does it all. Block, break, splash! #NBAVote #WizMagic pic.twitter.com/gCZykJ5aTZ
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 2, 2016
And this stutter-step that Vucevic was at a loss to defend:
A stutter-step tutorial, courtesy of John Wall. #NBAVote #WizMagic https://t.co/paQRImuvWq
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 2, 2016
Wall also had 13 assists.
Otto Porter was all over the floor, grabbing 11 rebounds and 4 steals in addition to his 20 points. He also got this bucket to seal the game:
Drew Gooden returns, only to get hurt again
Gooden had missed the last 16 straight games with a calf injury. He returned tonight, picking up four fouls in four minutes of play. He appeared to re-injure his calf in the second quarter, and the Wizards quickly announced that he was out for the rest of the game.
The Wizards win the rebounding battle
Rebounding has been an issue for the Wizards this season, but they out-rebounded the Magic 46-39. This was largely due to a big game on the boards for Gortat, who had 14, and Porter, who had 11. Kelly Oubre and Ramon Sessions also chipped in 5 each.