The Washington Wizards were outmatched in the second half, falling by 22 points at home against the Detroit Pistons
The second half once again proved to be too much for the Washington Wizards to handle after the Detroit Pistons extended the losing streak to 14 games following a 117-95 loss at Capital One Arena.
Alex Sarr struggled mightily in the loss, finishing with just two points on 1-of-12 shooting from the field including three rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes. Tristan Vukcevic would pick up the scoring slack with a team-high 21 points and his second 20 point game this month, doing so on 7-of-8 shooting from the field and making all three of his three point attempts. Jaden Hardy finished with 16 points, scoring double figures in all but two of his last 11 games.
Washington opened ice cold from the floor after missing their first six shots with Detroit building a double digit lead just eight minutes into the game, later leading by as many as 25 points in the first half, but Tristan Vukcevic proved to be the spark the Wizards needed early with already 13 points.
The opening minutes of the second quarter proved to be a turning point at the time after Vukcevic set a hard screen on Ron Holland in the paint, leading Paul Reed to then shove Vukcevic before officials separated the players from an escalating situation. It sparked a 7-0 run for Washington, part of a larger 16-0 run, to make it a seven point game before a dunk from Javonte Green cooled the Wizards off, leading head coach Brian Keefe to call timeout.
Washington would trim the deficit to as little as five points in the closing minutes of the first half after Bub Carrington pushed the pace to set up Will Riley for an option three.
Trailing 60-52 at halftime, Sharife Cooper added a quick eight points but it wasn't enough to stop Detroit from building back its double digit lead thanks to a balanced scoring effort, including the bench for the second straight game. Detroit then built back a 20-point lead with four minutes left as Will Riley picked up the scoring slack late to finish with double figures scoring for the third consecutive game.
To make matters worse, Bub Carrington headed to the locker room in the final minute with what appeared to be a hand injury.
Now 16-53 overall and 13 games left, the Wizards will return to action on Saturday, March 21 for a 5 PM tipoff against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Capital One Arena. The two teams last met in the fifth game of the season with the Thunder taking a 19 point win in Oklahoma City.