Kyshawn George scored 23 points to help lead the Washington Wizards to a 138-117 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors on Friday.
CJ McCollum and Bilal Coulibaly added 21 points apiece for the Wizards, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Washington entered play with the league’s worst record (5-23) and climbed out of the basement at the Indiana Pacers’ expense. Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington each scored 15 points in the win, followed by Tre Johnson’s 12.
Brandon Ingram’s 29 points paced Toronto while Immanuel Quickley scored 25 and Ja’Kobe Walter had 15 off the bench. Scottie Barnes totaled 14 points and seven assists and Sandro Mamukelashvili finished with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double for the Raptors, who have dropped three of their last four.
Toronto cut its 11-point halftime deficit to 83-80 after Barnes and Ingram hit back-to-back baskets to force a Washington timeout with 6:49 left in the third.
From there, Justin Champagnie’s dunk and Johnson’s free throws pushed the Wizards’ lead to six before Walter’s personal 5-0 run pulled Toronto within a point. Washington took a 102-100 edge into the final quarter.
The Wizards opened the fourth on a 10-2 run, taking a 112-102 lead on Carrington’s 3-pointer with 10:08 remaining. The margin ballooned to 16 as Carrington’s fourth trey stamped a 7-0 Washington run at the 7:20 mark.
When a Sarr 3-pointer was followed by a Coulibaly dunk, Washington extended its lead to 131-111 and sealed a rare victory.
After Carrington’s 3-pointer gave Washington a 29-21 lead, Walter made two triples as part of an 11-4 Toronto run that pulled the visitors within a point. The Wizards took a 35-32 lead into the second quarter as Johnson’s layup closed the first.
Trailing by eight, Toronto pulled even as Ingram’s triple and Quickley’s layup capped a 10-2 spurt.
The Wizards finished the first half on a 9-0 run, which included McCollum’s five straight points to give Washington a 73-62 halftime advantage. Paced by George’s 7-for-9 shooting that led to 18 points, the Wizards shot 60% (30-for-50) in the first half. Ingram’s 14 first-half points led the Raptors.
