The Washington Wizards were leading the way for the worst record in the league a couple weeks ago, but now — just as tank season has kicked into full effect — they’ve suddenly won four of their last seven including Saturday night’s 126-123 thriller over the Denver Nuggets.
Washington trailed by seven with under five minutes to play but worked itself into the lead with a Jordan Poole floater with 44 seconds to play. From there, the teams traded baskets before Jamal Murray, who knocked down the game-winner against the Lakers on Friday, tied the score with five seconds left with another clutch jumper for his scrapbook.
That left 5.1 seconds on the clock, which was more than enough time for Poole to send the Nuggets packing with a 35-foot bomb from the logo as time basically expired.
Again, these “wins” are actually losses for the Wizards at this point. They’re still tied with Utah for the worst record and safely inside the bottom three, which would give them the maximum 14% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick. But Washington’s “lead” over the Pelicans, who own the fourth-worst record, is now just three losses with 16 games to play.
They can still blow this if they keep winning games, but don’t tell that to Poole, who certainly isn’t in the business of missing shots on purpose. He saw a game-winning opportunity in front of him, and he splashed it with conviction. Good for him.
He’s been turned into a punchline since Golden State traded him to Washington before last season, but he’s actually been pretty damn good this season. He’s averaging 21 points per game and making 38% of his nine 3-point attempts per game. The circus blunders have mostly been erased. And now you can add this game-winner to the ledger.
