In a matinee matchup to culminate their week facing longtime rivals like the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz, the Washington Wizards went north to take on the Detroit Pistons. With the two teams separated in the standings by just two games, this one promised to be a battle of epic proportions.
The Wizards emerged victorious and took a commanding three-game lead for 14th place in the Eastern Conference.
Enough with the kidding around — for a midday game between couple bottom-dwelling teams, this one was actually entertaining. Both teams played hard (though imperfectly), young guys on both sides made enough plays to tantalize, there was physicality that didn’t degenerate into cheap shots or dirty plays, and the Wizards finally got decent games from Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole at the same time.