Wizards vs. Spurs final score: Washington falls to San Antonio, 124-122

There are three things in life that are certain - death, taxes, and the Wizards losing in San Antonio. But tonight was oh so different from previous visits.

Six Wizards scored in double figures this evening led by Bradley Beal with 25 points and 11 assists. It wasn’t enough as Brad couldn’t make the final shot and the Wizards come up short, 124-122. Former Spur Davis Bertans was a flamethrower tonight: a perfect 7-7 from the field including 5-5 from three-point range. Isaiah Thomas scored 16 points off the bench in his Wizards debut.

Rui Hachimura made his presence known in this one from the get-go. The rookie drove the ball right to the hole for a slam to get the night started.

Bradley Beal has struggled a bit in the first two games of the season so tonight, he was in full attack mode early on. Rather than settling for jumpers, Beal drove on the San Antonio guards resulting in free throw attempts to get the All-Star going and keep the Wizards within striking distance.

It looked like things might get out of hand early in the second quarter. San Antonio was punishing Washington on the offensive glass and was getting to the hole with little to no resistance and pushed the lead out to double digits.

The Wizards clawed back with some nice shooting from Ish Smith, Beal, and a one-legged three from Isaiah Thomas. Washington used a 13-5 run to trim the San Antonio lead to two, but this slam from Hachimura tied the game at 60 at halftime.

San Antonio opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run and once again, it looked like they might blow this one open. Thomas provided a spark off the bench for Washington and knocked down back-to-back three-pointers as they gave themselves a shot and stayed within striking distance as they trailed by just two, 92-90 entering the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair and had the feelings of one of those games where the first team to lock in defensively would win. Smith knifed his way into the lane for easy buckets, Bertans was knocking down three-pointers, and Beal hit a big corner three to give the Wizards a lead. But they couldn’t put San Antonio away.

With the game tied at 122 and under 20 seconds to play, third-year big man Thomas Bryant misread a LaMarcus Aldridge screen and gave DeMar DeRozan a clear path to the basket. Hachimura’s slow rotation gave DeRozan an easy game-winning layup with five seconds to go. Beal had an opportunity to tie the game and drove the ball into traffic but the refs swallowed the whistles and he couldn’t get the shot to fall.

Washington dropped a hard fought 124-122 battle to San Antonio and falls to 1-2 on the season. They head home to Capital One Arena to take on the Houston Rockets in their home opener.

For a look at the numbers, click here.