After winning a win and ending the road trip, the Wizards, who were in somewhat shape, returned home and welcomed the Suns' challenge.
On the Wizards side, Beal was absent, Thomas Bryant returned to the starting lineup, and head coach Unseld was also trying to surprise the victory, defending the home court with two consecutive wins.
On the other hand, the Suns, after experiencing the fiasco of the last game, this team played away, whether it can save face, Paul + Booker + Ayton undoubtedly need to come forward!
Fortunately, after 4 quarters of competition, with a wave of 28-10 scoring climax, the Suns, who were mainly anti-away, overpowered the Wizards in the first three quarters, and once achieved a huge advantage of as many as 36 points.
Despite the final game, Harrell exploded and led the Wizards to a 17-4 counterattack that narrowed the score gap.
But helpless time became the biggest enemy, and the Suns, who finally played steadily, also won 95-80 on the road to the Wizards, which was worth the trip and also gave the opposing Wizards a 15-point defeat!
In this game, the Suns will sweep away the slump of the previous game loss, playing a team performance of 5 people scoring in double figures and all the players.
In the case of the main forces such as Booker + Bridges + Cameron Johnson, continuing to perform stably, the play of the two core Ayton + Paul has played a crucial leading role!
Ayton was very efficient in this game, starting 22 minutes, shooting nearly 60% of the 8-of-14 shooting, and it also exploded a game-high 20 points, plus a double-double performance of 16 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
With a strong finishing ability and excellent defensive sense of smell, Ayton not only dominated the inside line at both ends of the attack and defense, but also once became an invincible existence for the Wizards!
More importantly, throughout the game, Ayton personally did not make a mistake, and it can be said that with a very good personal performance, he played a dominating game!
Of course, as the core point guard of the team, Paul's performance in this game is also indispensable.
Paul was well defensively and defensively, starting 30 minutes and contributing 14 points, 4 rebounds , 9 assists + 1 steal + 1 block on 6-of-12 shooting.
And facing the Wizards' young guard line, Paul, who has both experience and strength in this game, can be described as using his own practical actions to teach them a good lesson!
On the other hand, on the Wizards side, the team's offensive and defensive ends were completely crushed in this game, and finally swallowed a 15-point rout, which obviously made it difficult for home fans to accept.
After all, under Harrell's all-out efforts to cut a team-high 15 points, plus 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block, the core of the team in this game, Kuzma + Dinwiddie's play, is indeed a bit unsatisfactory!
Kuzma was slightly sluggish, starting 22 minutes, only 3 of 12 shots felt cold, and the outside three-point shot was only 1 of 5 shots completely lost the crosshairs.
And the good partner Dinwiddie is also in no state, only 1 of 5 shots in the whole game, only got 4 points + 2 rebounds + 3 assists, not to mention, personally there were 2 mistakes, it can be said that at both ends of the attack and defense, it was comprehensively suppressed by Paul!
Obviously, in the case of Kuzma + Dinwiddie's delay in opening the situation and Beal's absence, in the face of the multi-point blossoming Suns, the Wizards, who cannot collapse in this battle, seem to have no choice but to accept the reality of losing.
Considering the wizards' current record and ranking, as well as the next not easy schedule, I have to say that this Wizards team with internal and external troubles will undoubtedly face more challenges and tests!
In this regard, many Wizards fans also expressed their positions after the game: Bill is coming back to stabilize the military heart!