The Wizards came back from down 14 in the second half to the Clippers in a Saturday matinee, but the Clippers won in the closing seconds on a Lou Williams’ 3-pointer, 113-112. Otto Porter Jr. led the Wizards with 27 points and 11 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season. Bradley Beal added 25 points and Mike Scott had 22 points, his most since April 4, 2014 with the Hawks. Williams led the Clippers with 35 points off the bench, including 22 in the second half.
Washington came out sizzling, opening the game on a 13-0 run, including three Porter triples. It took Los Angeles over four minutes to get on the board, but they would recover with a 16-4 run to bring the game within one point. The Clippers led 30-27 to end the first, as the script switched when Williams and Jawun Evans came into the game.
The Clippers dominated the second quarter, shooting 60.0% from the floor and making 4-of-6 3-pointers. On the other hand, the Wizards only made 1-of-8 triples, but made 7-of-10 in the paint in the second. Scott, Mahinmi, and Satoransky paced the Wizards in the second quarter, combining for 14 of the team’s 22 points. Washington trailed by 13 heading into the half, 62-49. Porter had 17 of his 25 points in the first half, while the two benches combined for 55 points.
Beal only had two points in the first half, but he came alive in the third quarter, scoring 16 of his 25 points. Paced by a 10-1 run, the Wizards were back within five points with 7:06 left in the third. The Wizards were able to score nine points off four Clippers turnovers and started to win the glass. Washington would win the third quarter 32-23, trailing by four heading into an exciting fourth quarter.
Satoransky, Beal, Scott, and Mahinmi played almost the entire fourth quarter, leading the Wizards’ comeback. Washington took back the lead with 10:11 to go on a Scott stepback, There would be 14 lead changes and three ties in the fourth quarter, as Williams and Scott were especially going back-and-forth with great offensive play.
The Wizards led by as many as four points in the final two minutes, as Scott had nine of his season-high 22 points in the fourth quarter. Considering they were trailing since the first quarter, the Wizards’ 14-point comeback was fueled by the bench play of Scott, Ian Mahinmi’s second straight game in double figures, and Tomas Satoransky’s 11 points. Satoransky would miss a key pair of free throws with 51.9 seconds left to put the Wizards up by a potential six points.
There were three lead changes in the final 12.2 seconds. Austin Rivers hit a 3-pointer to give the Clippers the 110-109 lead. Beal countered with a tough and-one finish and the Wizards regained the lead, 112-110. With the Clippers down two, Lou Williams drained a tough step-back 29-footer with Beal in his face.
Washington had a chance to win the game with 1.2 seconds to go, but the game clock started early before Beal could even attempt to get a shot off. No indication was made of why a tenth of a second was taken off the clock, but the ruling made the Wizards have to draw up a new play and from a more difficult inbound position with now 1.1 seconds to go. Marcin Gortat would miss a tough shot as time expired and the Clippers won, 113-112.