The Washington Wizards came into Tuesday's matchup without Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma in the lineup. With both stars out injured, the Wizards were supposed to lose to the mighty Boston Celtics, who also happened to be at (relatively) full strength. Well, Kristaps Porzingis did not get the memo.
Porzingis went off on Tuesday night as he led the Wizards to a totally unexpected blowout win against Boston, 130-111. KP dominated the Celtics in a way that only Giannis Antetokounmpo understands:
Porzingis finished Wednesday's victory with 32 points on 14-of-21 shooting, to go along with 13 rebounds, six assists, a steal, and a block, while also going 3-of-5 from distance. The 7-foot-3 big man also played 34 minutes in this one but despite his heavy usage rate, Porzingis did not commit a single turnover throughout the game. As the above tweet states, only Giannis Antetokounmpo has ever achieved a similar feat against the Celtics.
With this surprise win, the Wizards may have inched closer to securing a Top 10 finish in the East. They are now just two games behind the tenth-seeded Chicago Bulls with seven games remaining in the regular season. Are the Wizards giving their fans a glimmer of hope here?
Porzingis and Co. return to action on Friday in a matchup against a 32-43 Orlando Magic side. That's a winnable game for Washington, especially if they decide to bring back Beal and Kuzma into the mix. Kristaps Porzingis just made things a whole lot more interesting for the Wizards.