Bradley Beal scored 36 points, and the Washington Wizards snapped its three-game losing streak with a 117-97 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.
Playing without Kyle Kuzma, the Wizards still raced out to a 22-point advantage in the first quarter, and although they’ve had issues holding those types of leads this season, the last-place Pistons represented little threat. Killian Hayes led Detroit with 20 points.
Washington (32-37) moved percentage points ahead of Chicago (31-36) for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Pistons snapped an 11-game skid by beating Indiana on Monday, but they allowed the Wizards to shoot 68% in the first quarter — including 14 of 16 inside the arc — a night later.
An 8-0 run put Washington up 16-7, and later in the quarter, the Wizards went on a 20-2 tear to make it 38-16.
Kuzma missed the game because of right knee soreness.
Beal went 13 of 15 from the field and finished one point shy of his season high.
This game was less tense for the Wizards than their previous matchup with Detroit. They won that one on the road last week, 119-117 on Daniel Gafford’s buzzer-beater.
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Rookie Johnny Davis, a lottery pick for the Wizards who had appeared in only 14 games for them, scored 11 points in 18:32, easily surpassing his career highs in points and minutes. Rodney McGruder scored 16 points and went 4 of 9 from long distance. In his last five games, he’s 15 of 27 from 3-point range.
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