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If only the Wizards could play the Magic every night.
The Wizards beat the Magic 105-99 sweeping the season series as the Wizards get back in the win column. Six Wizards players scored in double figures tonight led by John Wall with a game-high 24, Jared Dudley, Otto Porter, and Gary Neal with 16 apiece, and Marcin Gortat and Garrett Temple chipping in with 12 and 11 points respectively.
The Wizards started out hot from the field shooting 58 percent in the first quarter and really looked engaged on the defensive end forcing six steals early.
The confidence that the Wizards have when playing the Magic carried over into the second quarter as John Wall and Otto Porter knocked down back-to-back threes right in front of the Wizards bench stretching the lead to 12, 40-28 midway through the second quarter.
With the second quarter coming to a close and the Wizards looking to get the last shot, Marcin Gortat found Gary Neal for a three-pointer as the first half expired as the Wizards took a 60-49 lead into halftime.
Buzzer: beaten. Nice shot, Gary! #WizMagic pic.twitter.com/4U0FqSvXXG
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 10, 2016
The Wizards coasted through the beginning of the third quarter stretching the lead to 17, their largest of the game, when John Wall found Otto Porter in the corner for a three. The Wizards offense started to stall a bit but that's when Gary Neal did most of his damage knocking down shots and keeping the Wizards at a comfortable double-digit lead.
With just seconds to play in the third, John Wall took the ball the length of the court and hit a 20-foot left-handed floater as time expired. The shot stretched the Wizards lead back out to 15, 85-70.
Things got a little close for comfort but the Magic never got closer than six in the fourth quarter. John Wall put this game away when he knocked down a three-pointer from Steph Curry's range with 2:35 to play to balloon the Wizards lead to 13.
That would be the nail in the coffin as the Wizards beat the Magic 105-99 and complete the season sweep.
Wizards let it fly from 3: The Wizards shot a very impressive 57 percent (13-23) from three-point range for the game and 58 percent in the first half including a buzzer beater from Gary Neal as time expired. The Wizards' three-pointers came in a variety of ways; Pick-and-Pops with Dudley, Gary Neal curling off screens, and Wall finding open shooters in their spots. More importantly, the Wizards' hit timely threes throughout the game, many of which coming at times when Orlando was clawing into the lead.
Wizards convert turnovers into points: The Wizards were very impressive on the defense end with seven steals in the first half, and 10 for the game. The Wizards turned those seven first-half steals into 15 points, 12 of which coming in transition highlighted by Wall going around the world for this layup:
The Wizards picked up in the third quarter right where they left off as John Wall poked away a cross-court pass and Porter threw a touchdown pass to a wide-open Wall for an easy dunk to start the third. For the game, the Wizards forced 15 Magic turnovers resulting in 20 points.
Wizards spread the wealth: Since this team is short-handed, everyone has to step up and every player did. Six players scored in double figures tonight. The Wizards had 29 assists on 42 made field goals (69 percent) including five players who had 3+ assists tonight. Gary Neal was instant offense off the bench scoring 16 points on 7-12 shooting with some key buckets coming early in the second and midway through the third quarter. Lastly, it won't show in the box score but Kelly Oubre Jr. played very well in just 15 minutes of play. Although the rookie didn't score, he was very active on defense and had no issue switching onto smaller guards. Oubre had several deflections as his length really came into play tonight.