Bradley Beal, Meet Dagger

Dagger! 

No, seriously, Dagger!  You did not misread that.

With under 13 seconds left of a tie game, the Washington Wizards looked to do something that they haven't done in several years.  They tried to get the ball to a player and put the game in his hands.  And would you believe it, his name wasn't Gilbert.

Dagger!

Bradley Beal drove to the foul line, pump faked sending two Thunder players soaring past him, and jumped around them to hit the one handed floater with 0.3 seconds to give the Wizards their 5th win of the season, a 101-99 victory over the Thunder.  (He finished with 22 points, tied for the team high)



Dagger!

Beal started his career rather slowly, but as the season continues Beal has been the one to take and hit the few clutch shots the Wizards have had this season.  A week ago fans wondered how a Washington Wizards player could have possibly been the rookie of the month in the Eastern Conference (for December), but after tonight they may have begun to believe.

Dagger!

Just three days prior, Beal hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer of the first overtime against Brooklyn to give the Wizards a second chance in another extra frame.  (Watch the fan reaction here)  And on Monday night the rookie from Florida hit the first game winner of his young NBA career.  The signs of Beal's improvement are evident on the court and are making it look like a pretty decent draft pick.

Dagger!

The Wizards only had 9 players available with AJ Price and Trevor Ariza returning to the lineup, but Shelvin Mack (cut), Jordan Crawford, Nene, and Cartier Martin out with injury.  Chris Singleton played just 6 seconds.

The Wiz had a lead for much of the second half, and the Thunder kept the Verizon faithful (consisting of a lot of Kevin Durant fans) holding their breaths as KD tied the game on a 3 pointer with under 40 seconds left.  Same old Wizards?  Not tonight.

Jan Vesely had a very active game scoring 10 points and getting 7 points in 20 minutes of hustle time.  (That earned $30 for charity...click here to find out more about JANuary)

Beating the Thunder one game doesn't change where this team is going, or where it has been.  But hearing Steve Buckhantz scream his trademark line helps Wizards fans forget the record, forget the woes, and forget the awfulness, at least for one night.

Dagger!