Washington couldn't back up their first division title in over 30 years, falling to the LA Clippers 133-124 on Wednesday night. They stumbled out of the gate, giving up 39 points in the first 12 minutes of the contest. That deficit grew to 11 at the halftime break and they eventually saw themselves down by 19 inside of the third quarter. While the wizards were able to cut that deficit to six points with just over a minute to go, they didn't have enough to pull out a second consecutive win in Los Angeles.
Wall goes off for Wizards
Despite the loss, Washington still finds themselves in good position at the top of the Eastern Conference.
They're currently two games back of Boston and Cleveland, who are tied for the top seed. The Wizards' offense performed very well, hitting nearly 50 percent of their shots and making 13 3-pointers, but it was their defense that just couldn't do anything to stop the Clippers.
Point Guard John Wall (23.4 ppg, 10.8 apg) electrified as usual with a stunning 41 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. He went 16-for-23 from the field and hit 8-of-11 3-pointers. While he did cough the ball up six times, he certainly made up for it by eclipsing the 40-point mark for the first time since December 6th when he had 52 against Orlando. Shooting guard Bradley Beal (23.1 ppg, 3.5 apg) went 5-for-11 from downtown and finished with 27 points.
Four Clippers hit 23-plus points in victory
The LA Clippers had quite an effort from multiple players in their lineup. Power forward Blake Griffin (21.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg) nearly had a triple-double as he finished with 26 points, 10 boards, and 9 assists. He hit 62.5 percent of his shots and went 6-for-8 from the foul line. Point guard Chris Paul (17.6 ppg, 9.2 apg) complimented his big man with 27 points and a huge positive passing ratio of 13 assists to just one turnover.
He's averaging 20 points in his last five games.
Other stunning notes include J.J. Redick (15 ppg) hitting 7-of-11 3-point attempts and nailing all six free throw attempts to finish with a team-high 31 points. DeAndre Jordan (12.7 ppg, 13.6 rpg) also delivered a double-double featuring 23 points and 18 boards. That included a very efficient 8-of-9 field goal attempts, along with his second consecutive contest with over 20 points.
