Julian Reese notched his fifth career double double while Will Riley finished just shy of a triple double in the Washington Wizards 119-108 loss against the Chicago Bulls
The Washington Wizards battled back after falling early, but in the end, the tank lives on after the Chicago Bulls took Thursday night's rematch in a 119-108 loss, moving the Wizards to 17-63 this season.
The loss, along with the Indiana Pacers blowing out the Brooklyn Nets on the road, has clinched a bottom two worst record this season, completing what has been viewed as the goal all season.
Will Riley led the way with a stat-stuffing performance, finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks in 38 minutes.
Julian Reese also registered 16 points and 15 rebounds, his fifth double-double in his 11th career game. Thursday also marked his fourth game with at least 15 rebounds, accomplishing a feat that no rookie has since Shaquille O'Neal.
Chicago quickly got out ahead with a 7-0 lead, then pushed it to 13-4 after a lazy turnover led to an easy dunk before a breakaway layup off a defensive rebound pushed Washington into a double digit hole, leading head coach Brian Keefe to call timeout less than four minutes into the game.
Justin Champagnie would pick up the slack in the final 90 seconds of the first quarter after scoring six straight points for the Wizards, taking a 32-24 deficit into the second quarter.
The Wizards would keep chipping away a three from Bub Carrington midway through the second quarter made it a one point game, the second bucket in what ended up being a 10-3 run over a two-minute span to take its first lead of the game. The run was capped off by a layup from Sharife Cooper to push Washington ahead.
Washington would cling onto the advantage with a three-point lead before the Bulls answered back, eventually making a pair of free throws to take a 52-51 lead into halftime.
Yet Chicago would take control in the third quarter, eventually building back a double digit lead after the Wizards shooting went ice cold, letting the Bulls build an 8-0 run into the fourth quarter to take back a double digit advantage.
Washington would eventually trim a deficit that grew to as many as 19 points back to a dozen points before eventually falling by 11.
Now entering the regular season finale weekend on an eight game losing streak, the Wizards will welcome the Miami Heat for the home finale on Friday night with tipoff set for 7 PM.