Hornets beat Wizards 97-87 for 4th straight victory
Kelly Oubre Jr. had 14 points for Charlotte, which ended Washington’s five-game winning steak after it stopped Golden State’s run at seven Sunday.
”The goal and the challenge here is to sustain it, and get better along the way, even into tomorrow’s practice,” Hornets coach James Borrego said.
LaMelo Ball added 11 points and a career-high 14 assists, Mason Plumlee had 11 points and 13 rebounds, Jalen McDaniels also scored 11 points.
”After the first quarter, we locked it in on defense and that got us going,” Bridges said. ”As long as we stay focused, do what we need to do on defense, we have a great chance of winning every night.”
Bradley Beal led Washington with 24 points, Daniel Gafford added 20, and Montrezl Harrell had 15.
”We stopped being aggressive, especially on offense,” Beal said after Washington lost a double-digit halftime lead. ”We settled for a lot of jumpers. We got a lot of good looks. We just didn’t make them. We still could have put a lot of pressure on the rim and gotten to the free-throw line a little more.”
After tying it at 63 with 3:52 left in the third period, Charlotte had a 10-2 run to close the quarter. Oubre scored seven points during the run.
”I wasn’t in tune with the pace,” said Gafford, who keyed Washington’s first-half lead but didn’t contribute much in the second. ”I felt like I was holding the team back at the time because I wasn’t doing the things I did in the first half. I can’t explain it, but I’m sure everyone saw it. I didn’t come out with the same intensity that I came out with at the beginning of the game.”
Beal played with a heavy heart Wednesday after the recent death of his grandmother.
‘I use basketball as my getaway, but it reminds me of her a lot,” Beal said. ”I just try to keep it as controlled as possible. It’s not something you can ignore, you have to take the punches and roll …