Kings Conquer; Wizards Blow it in the Fourth

Written By Jeremy Batka @EastCoastAssn 

The Wizards home win streak is snapped at five after a fourth quarter collapse Monday night against Sacramento 96-94.

The Wizards led for the majority of the game but because of poor offensive decisions and 20 total turnovers they found themselves down in the final minutes. Every player who entered the game for Washington recorded at least one turnover except for Garrett Temple who played less than a minute.

Isaiah Thomas (no relation to the Hall of Famer from Detroit) made a running layup in the final seconds to take the lead for the Kings for good. Thomas led the Kings with 22 points on the night.

Emeka Okafor continued to be an absolute beast for Washington. Okafor set his season high in scoring  Monday night with 23 and snagged 15 rebounds. Okafor found success with his mid range jumper and scored consistenly in the lane as well.

John Wall had 19 points and six assists driving to the basket almost at will. Martell Webster also had an impressive offensive night scoring 18 but for some reason was absent from the court for most of the fourth quarter.

Instead Randy Wittman went with a heavy dose of Trevor Ariza and Jordan Crawford in the fourth. The Wizards then proceeded to make terrible shot selections and turned the ball over at an alarming rate. Even with the offense struggling, Wittman kept Webster on the bench until the final minutes.

Wizard fans may also question Wittman's play calling in the final minute, with the Wizards tied late the attempted to post up Nene with no success. On the night Nene had just four points and six turnovers leaving Wizard fans wondering, "Why not feed the hot hand, Webster, Wall, or even Okafor?"

It's clear Washington is a different squad now that they are healthy and excuses for Wittman can no longer be made. The Wizards should have won tonight but too many turnovers combined with a few questionable coaching decisions doom them to their 32nd loss of the season.