Warriors Dominate the Boards: Squeak by Wiz

Written By Jeremy Batka @EastCoastAssn

It was a back and forth game Friday night at the Verizon center but in the end David Lee and the Warriors proved to be too much for Washington squeaking by the Wizards 101-97.

Lee had 24 points and 17 rebounds and found success with a variety of shots. Steph Curry shot well throughout the game and hit some clutch free throws late on his way to 22 points. Klay Thompson also had a big night dropping 24; he was 5-9 from beyond the arc.

As a team, the Warriors out rebounded Washington 57-37. 

On the Wizards side of things, you certainly can't fault them for effort. With about 2:40 left in the game Klay Thompson hit a three that, at the time, looked like it would put the game out of reach. But as they did all night, the Wizards battled back.

Jordan Crawford hit three pointers on consecutive possessions under the two minute mark, six of his team high 22 points. Those late buckets put the game in reach when Bradley Beal hit a contested three to cut Golden States lead to one. Beal kept his hot hand from last night and contributed 17 tonight.

But Beal only has one thing on his mind after tonight's game.

With just a handful of seconds left in the game and the Wizards trailing by three, the Warriors elected to foul Bradley Beal. After making his first free throw Beal missed the second on purpose but was able to gather his own rebound. It looked like Beal had a clean look to tie the game but Beal missed and immediatley dropped his head in his hands.

A.J. Price left the game in the first quarter with a hand injury and did not return. Shaun Livingston and Jordan Crawford shared point guard duties for the rest of the game but neither were exactly impressive.

The Wizards played hard tonight but it's clear they still lack offensive consistency. The team has shown improvement over the past three games but really that's not saying much.