D10 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, MARCH 7 , 2022
what they have in Porzingis, and
that somebody was Thomas Bry-
ant on Sunday. T he 24-year-old did
not play, bumped down a rung
after Daniel Gafford was shifted
from the starting lineup to the
bench.Neto leaves with injury
Raul Neto missed the entire
second half with a left ankle
sprain.
The guard limped to the locker
room in pain with just over two
minutes left in the first half after
he landed awkwardly and ap-
peared to roll his ankle. Unseld
said he was moving well after the
game and will be day-to-day.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nikola Jokic scored 30 of his
46 points in the fourth quarter
and overtime, and the Denver
Nuggets rallied after squandering
an early 21-point lead to beat the
visiting New Orleans Pelicans,
138-130, on Sunday night.
Jokic hit two free throws to tie
it with 3.2 seconds remaining in
regulation and then sealed it in
overtime with a three-pointer
with 1:30 left. His big night led to
an improbable win in which
Coach Michael Malone was eject-
ed late in the third quarter, with
the team completely unraveling
and then regrouping down the
stretch.
Jokic, the reigning NBA MVP,
also had 12 rebounds and 11 as-
sists for his league-leading
17 th triple-double of the season.
Brandon Ingram had 38 points
for New Orleans. The Pelicans had
won four in a row.
l BUCKS 132, SUNS 122:
Khris Middleton scored a season-
high 44 points, Jrue Holiday had
17 of his 24 points in the fourth
quarter, and Milwaukee rallied at
home to beat shorthanded Phoe-
nix.
Milwaukee outscored Phoenix
12-1 over the last three minutes to
win in the Suns’ first visit since
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored
50 points in a 105-98 Game 6
victory that gave the Bucks their
first NBA title in 50 years. In their
only previous matchup this sea-
son, the Suns won, 131-107, in
Phoenix on Feb. 10.
The NBA-leading Suns were
playing without their usual all-
star starting backcourt of Devin
Booker and Chris Paul. Booker
missed his third straight game
because of the NBA’s health and
safety protocols. Paul broke his
right thumb Feb. 16.
Phoenix also was missing Cam
Johnson, who has a bruised right
quadriceps.
Deandre Ayton led the Suns
with 30 points.
l CAVALIERS 104, RAP-
TORS 96: Rookie Evan Mobley
had 20 points and 17 rebounds,
Lauri Markkanen scored
22 points, and Cleveland widened
its lead over visiting Toronto in
the Eastern Conference.
Pascal Siakam scored 24 points
for Toronto.
l ROCKETS 123, GRIZZLIES
112: Kevin Porter Jr. scored
29 points, Christian Wood added
28 points and 13 rebounds, and
Houston beat visiting Memphis t o
end a 12-game losing streak.
Porter scored 19 of his 22 sec-
ond-half points in the third quar-
ter to help Houston overcome a
10-point halftime deficit.
Desmond Bane scored
28 points and Ja Morant added
22 points and six assists for Mem-
phis.
l CELTICS 126, NETS 120:
Jayson Ta tum scored a season-
high 54 points — 34 of them in the
second half — and Boston over-
came a rare appearance by both
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in
visiting Brooklyn’s lineup.
Durant played in his second
game since mid-January and
scored 37 for the Nets to become
the 23rd player in NBA history to
reach 25,000 points. Irving joined
him for just the fourth time all
season, scoring 19 in his first game
in three weeks and his first in
Boston since he was hit with a
water bottle during the playoffs.
l JAZZ 116, THUNDER 103:
Bojan Bogdanovic made a fran -
chise-record 11 three-pointers and
scored 35 points for visiting Utah.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had
33 points, eight assists and seven
rebounds for Oklahoma City,
which was missing starters Josh
Giddey (sore right hip) and Lu
Dort (left shoulder strain).Oladipo may return Monday
Victor Oladipo is listed as ques-
tionable for Miami’s game Mon-
day against Houston, which
means the two-time all-star could
play for the first time in nearly a
year. Oladipo last appeared in an
NBA game April 8, 2021.
He has been sidelined since a
second surgery on his right quad-
riceps tendon, which h e originally
injured while playing f or the Indi-
ana Pacers in January 2019.NBA ROUNDUP
With his coach ejected,
Jokic leads Denver rally
NUGGETS 138,
PELICANS 130 (OT)WIZARDS’ NEXT THREE
at Los Angeles Clippers
Wednesday10:30 NBCSW
at Los Angeles Lakers
Fr iday10:30 NBCSW,
NBA TVat Portland Trail Blazers
Saturday10NBCSW
Radio: WTEM (980 AM)
rebounds, and he made 3 of 4
attempts from three-point range.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope add-
ed 19 points for the Wizards, and
Malcolm Brogdon led the Pacers
(22-44) with 27, but Porzingis was
the star of the show.
Here’s what else to know from
the Wizards’ victory:Dinwiddie speaks out
Porzingis’s appearance could
have turned the page for the Wiz-
ards — if not for the slow drip of
comments coming from former
players reminding Washington of
its recent past.
Spencer Dinwiddie, now with
Dallas, was the latest to speak up,
saying Saturday that he felt hurt
that some of the blame for the
Wizards’ chemistry problems
landed on his shoulders. He said,
among other things, that the or-
ganization asked him to ease up
on scoring after the first part of
the season and focus more on
passing.
Unseld declined to say whether
Dinwiddie’s comments were ac-
curate.
“Bottom line, we had to make a
change, but to get something, we
had to give up something,” Unseld
said. “He’s a really talented guy,
he’s playing well, he’s healthy, and
we look forward to seeing the
benefit of that trade. So it is what it
is, but I think it’s one of those
things where we just have to move
on, get past it.”Bryant sits
Somebody will have to sacrifice
playing time f or the Wizards to seedence that seemed to wobble in
Dallas and if he and Beal fit togeth-
er on the court as Unseld hopes
they do. The Wizards can’t be sure
of that last part until next season
because of the wrist injury that
will keep Beal in a cast for at least
six more weeks.
“I feel good here, honestly,” Por-
zingis said, giggling as he spoke.
“... Hopefully we’ll have Brad next
season. I don’t know what the
situation is, but I would love to
play with him and Kuz and the rest
of the guys. I t hink there are some
exciting things to look forward to.”
Beyond securing a firm “yes”
from Beal, Washington’s front of-
fice will have to dedicate a good
chunk of its summer vacation try-
ing to fill its perennial vacancy at
point guard. Add one more un-
known element to the list.
But on Sunday, for two hours,
those unknowns faded into the
distance as Porzingis drew oohs
and ahhs from a... slightly more
robust crowd than the groups that
left multiple sections completely
empty at Washington’s previous
two home games.
He earned some applause when
he checked out after his first five-
minute stint. He spent a portion of
his time not on the court just off to
the side, riding a stationary bike
with large ice packs affixed to his
knees and interacting with those
fans confident enough to come
over and greet him.
Unseld hopes Porzingis has the
same uplifting effect on the court.
Washington is 1 1th in the East, one
spot out of the play-in tourna-
ment. On Sunday, he added fivee nergetic affair that had both the
crowd and Wizards players buzz-
ing. Judging by Porzingis’s confi-
dence, his three-point shooting,
the dunks he slammed home and
the chase-down block he execut-
ed, no one would have been able
to tell it was his first time playing
with many of his teammates.
“It’s been a smooth transition
all the way around,” he said with a
grin.
With 25 points, Porzingis led
seven Wizards in double figures
during a horse race with the Pac-
ers, who shot 51.8 percent to
Washington’s 52.3. He was giddy
afterward, with a perma-grin as
he spoke of the joy of taking the
court again after a long time away
and the first-day-of-school excite-
ment he feels about joining the
Wizards. At one point during his
postgame news conference, Por-
zingis literally licked his chops
when discussing playing along-
side Kyle Kuzma.
In that sense, it was not hard to
pinpoint what Porzingis brings to
Washington in the short term.
The former all-star gave the Wiz-
ards (29-34) a desperately needed
jolt as they fight for a spot in the
Eastern Conference play-in tour-
nament — the gleaming reward
that is a shot at a playoff run
without Bradley Beal.
“It was phenomenal,” said Kuz-
ma, who had 23 points. “Teams
can’t just load up on me, having
that extra guy out there that
causes a lot of threat to defenses.
With him, he’s so versatile....
There’s a r eason why they call him
‘The Unicorn.’ ”
Porzingis’s tantalizing talent is
the obvious benefit of his addition
for Washington. But trying to suss
out what he means t o the franchise
in the long term can be headache-
inducing — if only because, with or
without him, the Wizards are still
frozen in uncertainty.
Block out the sound of a lively
crowd cheering Porzingis as he
checked out f or the final time. Ta ke
a leap and assume Beal re-signs
this summer, an outcome he gave
legs to last week when he said he
was leaning toward staying in D.C.
Could Porzingis be the permanent
co-star that Beal has been miss-
ing?
Perhaps — if Porzingis stays
healthy, if he regains the confi-WIZARDS FROM D1
Wizards top Pacers in Porzingis’s debut
KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST
Kris taps Porzingis, acquired by the Wizards at the trade deadline
from the Mavericks, made 7 of 12 shots in his Washington debut.Wizards 133, Pacers 123
Indiana ................................ 2635263 6— 123
Washington ........................ 3027393 7— 133
INDIANA MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS
Brissett 27:12 2-9 4-4 0-204 8
Hield 39:35 8-17 1-1 0-8 7419
Jackson 7:53 3-7 0-2 4-504 6
Brogdon 34:58 8-17 11-13 1-4 4127
Haliburton 36:41 5-11 4-4 0-7 11 215
J.Smith 29:06 7-9 0-0 1-6 3115
Washington Jr. 24:26 3-6 2-2 0-2 1311
Bitadze 23:34 7-7 3-3 0-6 0320
Sykes 9:00 0-1 0-0 0-120 0
Taylor 7:33 1-1 0-0 1-100 2
TOTALS 240 44-85 25-29 7-42 28 22 123
Percentages: FG .518, FT .862. 3-Point Goals: 10-31, .323
(Bitadze 3-3, Washington Jr. 3-4, Hield 2-7, J.Smith 1-3,
Haliburton 1-5, Sykes 0-1, Brissett 0-4, Brogdon 0-4).
Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked
Shots: 5 (Brissett 2, Jackson 2, J.Smith). Turnovers: 10
(Haliburton 4, Washington Jr. 2, Bitadze, Brogdon, Hield,
Taylor). Steals: 3 (Haliburton 3). Technical Fouls: None.
WASHINGTON MIN FG FT O-TAPFPTS
Caldwell-Pope 33:27 5-13 6-7 0-2 5119
Kuzma 36:24 8-17 5-7 0-5 8123
Porzingis 21:18 7-12 8-10 1-5 0325
Kispert 22:57 3-6 0-0 0-002 9
Neto 10:53 2-4 0-1 0-121 5
Avdija 30:42 3-8 4-4 2-7 3210
I.Smith 27:59 6-8 0-0 1-7 9113
Gafford 16:32 5-7 0-0 1-3 0210
Hachimura 15:46 1-5 0-0 0-300 3
Satoransky 13:52 3-4 3-3 0-1 5110
Gill 10:09 2-2 0-0 0-212 6
TOTALS 240 45-86 26-32 5-36 33 16 133
Percentages: FG .523, FT .813. 3-Point Goals: 17-42, .405
(Porzingis 3-4, Kispert 3-6, Caldwell-Pope 3-9, Gill 2-2,
Kuzma 2-7, Neto 1-2, Satoransky 1-2, I.Smith 1-3,
Hachimura 1-4, Avdija 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team
Turnovers: 1. Blocked Shots: 4 (Kuzma 2, Porzingis 2).
Turnovers: 5 (Avdija, Gafford, I.Smith, Kuzma, Satoran-
sky). Steals: 6 (I.Smith 2, Caldwell-Pope, Hachimura,
Kuzma, Neto). Technical Fouls: Porzingis, 8:33 first.
A: 13,937 (20,356).Wouldn’t it be great ifyour home had warninglights just like your car?Unfortunately, it doesn’t. And if you have an older roof, itmay need to be replaced before the next big storm ends up....FREE ESTIMATESCall Now! 8 77 -445-LONGLongRoofing.com....in your home!n Best warranties in the industryn High performance asphalt shingles, metal & flat roofingn Awarded SELECT ShingleMaster Certification(earned by only 1% of U.S. roofers!)Long Roofing has been a trusted, local name since 1945.We can give you peace of mind and a storm-free interior!Licensed, Bonded, Insured. MHIC 51346, VA 2705048183A, DC 67006785
Expires 4/20/22. Valid initial visit only. Min. purchase required. Cannot be combined with other offers. Subject to credit approval. Interest is billed during the promotional period but all
interest is waived if the purchase amount is paid in full within 12 months. There are no required minimum monthly payments during the promotional period. Financing for GreenSky
consumer loan programs is provided by federally insured, equal opportunity lender banks. NMLS #1416362PAYMENTSNO INTEREST
FOR 1YEAR!WINDOWS g DOORS g BATHS