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The Washington Wizards defeated the Golden State Warriors, 118-114. It is their sixth win in a row and first six-game win streak since 2017. They also swept Golden State for the season series.
If there is a big highlight about this game, it actually has nothing to do with how many points someone scored or any play on the court. It’s the fact that tonight was the first time fans came back to Capital One Arena since Mar. 10, 2020 in a 122-115 win over the New York Knicks. That’s 406 DAYS since fans were in the arena.
Bradley Beal welcomed fans back to the arena before tipoff as well.
Bradley Beal welcomes fans back to @CapitalOneArena!#WizWarriors | @RealDealBeal23 pic.twitter.com/HJenOISS7a
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) April 21, 2021
The first half of the game went well all things considered. The Wizards led 60-58 and they kept Stephen Curry in check since he shot just 2-of-10 in the first half. Washington even led by double digits at one point in the second quarter. But not long before the halftime buzzer, Deni Avdija (6 points) suffered a lower right leg injury and had to leave the game in a wheelchair.
Just before the game ended, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Avdija suffered a hairline fracture in his left ankle, which also ends his rookie season. While it is sad to see that Avdija won’t be playing for the rest of Washington’s playoff push, thankfully, he probably won’t need surgery.
From there, no one would have blamed Washington for just not having their minds in the game with a key teammate out of commission. And that’s what happened during the third and even fourth quarters as Curry warmed up and the Wizards went cold. The Warriors led by as many as 11 points in the fourth ... until Washington made a big comeback to get the win.
Russell Westbrook had yet another triple double with 20 REBOUNDS, 14 points and 11 assists. He had nine turnovers as well, but ... WE WON! Bradley Beal led all the Wizards scorers with 29 points.
Daniel Gafford scored 19 points grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked THREE shots!!! In fact, the Wizards had a great night rebounding the basketball, out-rebounding the Warriors 61-44!
Davis Bertans also scored 19 points and Raul Neto added 18 more for Washington.
For Golden State, Curry ended up with 18 points but shot 7-of-25 overall and 2-of-14 from three. And Kelly Oubre led their scorers with 24 points off the bench.
The Wizards will head on the road for their next game which will be against the Oklahoma City Thunder this Friday. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. ET.