Kyle Kuzma’s last-second 3 lifts Wizards over Pistons in OT
Kyle Kuzma #33 of the Washington Wizards celebrates a three point basket with Bradley Beal #3 to take the lead with .06 seconds left in overtime against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on December 08, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images/AFP
Kyle Kuzma made a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left in overtime to give the visiting Washington Wizards a 119-116 win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
Kuzma had 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Bradley Beal supplied 25 points. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 13 points and Spencer Dinwiddie chipped in 12 points and seven assists.
Jerami Grant’s 28 points led Detroit, which lost its 10th straight. Cade Cunningham had 21 points and Frank Jackson contributed 19.
KUZ IN THE CLUTCH!#DCAboveAll | @kylekuzma pic.twitter.com/T5xAQOkvXM
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 9, 2021
The Pistons rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final six minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Dinwiddie made a 3-pointer with 2:16 left in overtime to give his team a 114-110 lead. Cunningham then made two straight layups to tie it.
Beal and Cunningham traded baskets before Kuzma hit his corner 3-pointer off a Dinwiddie feed.
Jackson had 13 points while Cunningham and Grant added 11 apiece as the Pistons gained a 60-52 halftime lead. Detroit attempted 23 free throws and made all but one of them.
Clutch Kuzma 👀@kylekuzma drops a team-high 26 PTS and drains the game-winning triple in the @WashWizards OT win! pic.twitter.com/sQZFyCpxju
— NBA (@NBA) December 9, 2021
Detroit quickly gave up the lead, thanks to Caldwell-Pope. He scored 10 points in less than two minutes to tie the score at 62. Washington took the lead with 6:20 left in the quarter on a Dinwiddie layup.
The Wizards wound up outscoring the Pistons 37-26 in the quarter to gain an 89-86 edge. Beal had eight points during the quarter and Grant scored a dozen for Detroit.
Kuzma had a three-point play after an offensive rebound to extend Washington’s lead to six points. Kuzma’s 3-point field goal 40 seconds later made it 97-88.
Raul Neto’s layup with 7:13 remaining gave Washington a double-digit advantage at 101-90. After Kuzma made a turnaround shot, the Pistons caught fire.
They went on a 12-1 run, capped by a Jackson 3-pointer with 1:46 remaining.
Beal hit a jumper with 31 seconds left to nudge the Wizards’ lead to four. Isaiah Stewart answered with a layup and Beal then committed a turnover with 12.9 seconds left. Grant made two free throws with 2.3 seconds left to tie it at 106.
