Alondes Williams led the way with 25 points and ten rebounds to lift the Washington Wizards over the Indiana Pacers for consecutive wins.
In a game that featured an early blowout and ended with the Wizards pulling away, the Washington Wizards have now opened the post All Star slate with consecutive wins, taking down the Indiana Pacers, 131-118, at home.
Alondes Williams finished with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, along with ten rebounds for his first career double-double. Sharife Cooper also recorded 18 points while Tre Johnson and Tristan Vukcevic both recorded 14 points.
The Wizards opened the game in a big hole after Jay Huff anchored a strong start for the Pacers, leading head coach Brian Keefe to call timeout midway through the first quarter.
Huff would go on to finish with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-8 from three, in 16 minutes.
Tre Johnson would cut the deficit in half with five straight points while a three from Alondes Williams then pull-up jumper from Will Riley trimmed the deficit to two before Indiana took a 27-22 lead into the first quarter break. The Pacers would grow that lead to as many as 15 through the second quarter before Washington trimmed away at the deficit behind a balanced scoring effort, heading into halftime trailing 68-57.
The Wizards would open on fire before eventually flirting with a one possession game through the opening minutes of the third quarter, highlighted by a Will Riley poster dunk on Huff right after Huff notched his 22nd point of the night the play prior.
Washington would then tie the game after capitalizing on the Pacers turnover with three minutes left in the third quarter, leading a broken possession in the half court to a three from Kadary Richmond. One sequence later, a dunk Anthony Gill would push the Wizards ahead 86-84 for their first lead of the night. Indiana would briefly take it back on a Quenton Jackson three before a Sharife Cooper jumper tied the two teams at 92 heading into the final quarter.
After six lead changes through the first three minutes, the rest of the game proved to be all Washington as Alondes Williams put the finishing touches on the game before a three from Jamir Watkins led Indiana to call a timeout down 124-111 with under 100 seconds left.
Washington also announced that both Justin Champagnie (knee soreness) and Tristan Vukcevic (hand contusion) were also sidelined for the final quarter.
After moving to 16-39 following the win, the Wizards will now return to action on Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets for a 6 PM tipoff in the final meeting between the divisional rivals.