Bulls rally from 18 down to beat Wizards in overtime

Chicago Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr., left, goes to the basket past Washington Wizards’ Davis Bertans (42), Anzejs Pasecniks (18), Bradley Beal (3) and Ish Smith (14) during overtime in an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

WASHINGTON— Chicago Bulls forward Zach LaVine offered blunt advice to teammates as they rallied against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.

“It just seemed like a real ugly game,” LaVine said. “I just kept telling them, ‘Hey, man it’s an ugly game, might as well get ugly with them.’”

It worked.

Wendell Carter Jr. made a layup with 9.1 seconds left in overtime, completing the Bulls’ comeback from an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Wizards 110-109.

LaVine capped a 21-3 Bulls run with three free throws that tied the game at 96 with 5.5 seconds left in the fourth. Bradley Beal hit a jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining to put Washington ahead 98-96, but LaVine was fouled on the ensuing inbound play and hit two free throws to force OT.

“It showed that our identity should be like that for the rest of the year,” former Wizards player Tomas Satoransky said. “We won thanks to our defense.”

Lauri Markkanen’s alley-oop basket gave the Bulls their first lead since the first quarter, 106-105 with 1:47 left in overtime.

Beal’s two free throws put Washington back on top, and Isaiah Thomas’ two foul shots made it 109-106 with 53 seconds left. Carter, aided by a lane violation by Washington, made two free throws with 40 seconds to go and scored the winner after Beal’s miss.

Beal missed another jumper at the buzzer.

“Felt good,” Beal said. “I got an open shot over a small defender. It was just short.”

Markkanen had 31 points and nine rebounds, and LaVine added 24 points.

Davis Bertans led Washington with 26 points, and Beal finished with 22 on 4-of-19 shooting from the field.

The Wizards led 93-75 with 8:21 left in the fourth before Carter’s dunk started Chicago’s spurt. LaVine’s 3-pointer pulled the Bulls within 96-93 with 1:33 remaining. LaVine scored 10 points in the final three minutes of the period.

“Just didn’t execute like we did to get us the lead and I think that hurt us.” Thomas said. “We played like we were stalling, playing against the shot clock and hoping to make the shot at the end of the shot clock.”

In his return to Washington, Satoransky had 17 points.

Washington led by six at halftime, and Beal and Thomas combined for three 3-pointers in a 9-2 run that gave the Wizards a 74-61 lead midway through the third quarter.

STARTING THEM UP

Chicago’s reserves were outscored by Washington’s bench 35-14. “Trying to find a lineup that would work, that could get some juice going, and we went back with our starters. … They battled, they made simple plays, they hung in there,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen said after his starting five all played 34 minutes or more.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW

The Wizards signed Anzejs Pasecniks to a two-way contract this week, and the 7-foot-1 center made his NBA debut against the Bulls, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds. Pasecniks, who turns 24 on Friday, had been playing with the Wizards G-League team.

“He was terrific,” coach Scott Brooks said. “He’s big at the basket, pretty good hands. He knows how to play, makes good passes, makes good reads, and he is only going to get better.”

TIP-INS

Bulls: Satoransky was the subject of a video tribute during the first quarter. … Carter picked up a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter. He had nine points and nine rebounds. … The Bulls have seven straight games with at least five blocks. … Chicago has won three straight versus Washington for the first time since a seven-game streak from April 2, 2010-Jan. 30, 2012.

Wizards: Bertans started in place of rookie Rui Hachimura, who injured his groin in Monday’s win at Detroit and is out for at least five games. … The 13-point fourth quarter was their lowest-scoring quarter of the season.

UP NEXT

Bulls: Visit the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.

Wizards: Visit the Toronto Raptors on Friday.