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Saturday, Dec. 11 8:30pm ET
Wizards snap six-game losing streak | |||||
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SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- The way the San Antonio Spurs have played lately, a homecourt loss was bound to happen. The Washington Wizards took full advantage, defeating San Antonio 99-89 Saturday as the Wizards snapped a six-game losing streak and dealt the Spurs a rare defeat in the Alamodome. Mitch Richmond led Washington with 31 points -- scoring 20 in the first half -- while reserve Tracy Murray scored 13 of his 15 points during the fourth quarter. "It feels great," Richmond said. "This is what we've been looking for. You know, we feel we're a better team than our record and we've just got to go out and show it. Tonight we showed it." San Antonio had won 22 consecutive regular-season home games before Saturday. The Spurs' last regular-season loss at home was March 26 to the Toronto Raptors. The Spurs' only lost one playoff game on their home court en route to winning the NBA championship last season. Now, the Spurs have lost four of their last five games, including three losses to end a road trip earlier in the week. "Basically, we need to want these games as much as the people we are playing want them. We need to play smarter, and we need to stick together," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. The Spurs have struggled with outside shooting. They went 4-for-11 from 3-point range against Washington. The Wizards were 4-for-7 from beyond the arc. As the Wizards amassed periodic double-digit advantages in the fourth quarter and continued to hang onto the lead no matter how the Spurs threatened, San Antonio fans watched quietly stunned while Wizards players and coaches cheered jubilantly as the game clock ticked down. Juwan Howard and Rod Strickland each had 11 points for Washington, and Michael Smith had 10. Tim Duncan, who scored a career-high 42 points Thursday in a victory over Vancouver, led the Spurs with 23 points and 13 rebounds. "We are just all in different places right now. We are in a little bit of a slump. We are just not playing well," Duncan said. David Robinson had 16 points and nine rebounds for San Antonio, and Jaren Jackson came off the bench to score 12 for San Antonio. Avery Johnson of the Spurs, who had four points and four assists, said his team is lacking the "urgency" it typically has later in the season. "We had a lackluster effort tonight, mentally and physically," he said. "If this was April 1, we would not have lost this game. I know that for a fact." Washington took the lead with 3:36 remaining in the second quarter on a basket by Richmond and held a 48-44 advantage at halftime. Duncan and Chucky Brown scored the first nine points of the third for the Spurs, who pulled within one point with 7:23 left in the period. The Wizards went on a 12-5 spurt and moved ahead 68-58 with three minutes remaining in the quarter. Jackson's 3-pointer for the Spurs with 1:27 left in the third closed the Wizards' edge to five, then three free throws by Duncan left Washington with a 71-68 lead at the end of the period. But the fourth quarter belonged to Washington. Down the stretch the closest the Spurs could get was within six points. "We watched a lot of tape and decided that we didn't want their perimeter guys to get off to a good start. We wanted to make Tim and David take a lot of jump shots," Wizards coach Gar Heard said. "Hopefully this will turn the corner for us." The Wizards, next-to-last in the Atlantic Division, improved to 6-16 with the victory. The Spurs, leading the Midwest Division, dropped to 15-7.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Washington Clubhouse San Antonio Clubhouse RECAPS LA Lakers 106 Vancouver 94
Washington 99
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