Wizards vs. Warriors final score: Washington sputters after strong first half, falls 102-94

For a brief moment in the first half, it looked like the Wizards were on the verge of doing something truly special in Oakland. They were out to 46-37 lead, Bradley Beal was firing on all cylinders, the Wizards were keeping Stephen Curry from going off, and the team even built a lead with Wall on the bench.

All the ingredients were in place for the Wizards to put together the most baffling and amazing win of the season, until they weren't. In the span of two minutes, Stephen Curry hit two threes, a layup, and assisted on a dunk to Shaun Livingston to turn a seven point deficit into a three point lead heading into the half.

The really cool thing about greatness is that you don't have to be brilliant at all times to prove it, you just have to be able to break it out when the time is right, and that's just what the Warriors did to kill the Washington's momentum heading into halftime.

The Wizards hung tough in the third quarter, thanks in large part to a 13 point, 4 rebound performance from Markieff Morris, but even still, the Warriors were able to extend their lead to seven heading into the fourth quarter.

From there, the Warriors made sure the Wizards didn't make get a chance to make any last-minute heroics. They opened the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run that put the Warriors ahead comfortably. Kelly Oubre and J.J. Hickson helped put together a late-game run to make the final score look nicer, but the end result was never in doubt as the Warriors took down the Wizards 102-94.

Otto Porter comes through with a strong performance

To stay competitive against a team like the Warriors, you need a player with a unique skillset who can get the Warriors out of their rhythm. Porter's ability to cover a variety of positions, crash the glass, and get out in transition was a big asset against the Warriors, as he showed at several points during the game, like this fast break:

And this nice block on Klay Thompson:

Nene bogs things up for Wizards

The Wizards have an annoying tendency when things get tight offensively to dump the ball into Nene because it makes them feel like they're getting closer to the basket, even though most of the time it really doesn't get them any closer to scoring points. Tuesday's game was a prime example. In just 17 minutes of action, Nene attempted 8 field goals, 6 free throws, and along with 4 turnovers and 0 assists. All of those possessions led to a grand total of 10 points. That's simply not enough when you're trying to keep pace with the Warriors.