NBA: Kyle Kuzma scores 30 as Wizards drop Raptors
Kyle Kuzma #33 of the Washington Wizards and Daniel Gafford #21 celebrate against the Toronto Raptors during the second half at Capital One Arena on March 2, 2023 in Washington, DC. Patrick Smith/Getty Images/AFP
Kyle Kuzma scored 30 points and the Washington Wizards defeated the visiting Toronto Raptors 119-108 Thursday night.
Kristaps Porzingis added 25 points for the Wizards, who have won two in a row.
Daniel Gafford had 18 points for Washington. Bradley Beal scored 15 points, Corey Kispert scored 10 points and Delon Wright had seven points and 11 assists.
O.G. Anunoby had 26 points for the Raptors. Jakob Poeltl added 23 points and 13 rebounds. Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes had 14 points each, Pascal Siakam scored 13 points and 11 rebounds and Chris Boucher added 12 points.
Washington took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter and scored the first eight points of the quarter.
10 straight points for @kylekuzma … A DAWG 😤 pic.twitter.com/movUpnPAnT
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) March 3, 2023
Anunoby made a 3-pointer with 7:23 to play, cutting the deficit to 11. Poeltl’s layup cut the margin to nine with 5:25 left. Kuzma came back with a dunk and Porzingis hit a 12-footer to stretch the margin to 13 with four minutes remaining.
VanVleet made a layup to cut the deficit to eight with 1:56 to go, but Porzingis stretched the lead to 13 at 114-101 with a 3-pointer with 1:13 left. Anunoby’s 3-pointer cut the margin to nine but it was not enough.
Kuzma scored the first 10 points of the game and Toronto responded with an 18-2 run. Washington led 24-20 after one quarter.
Jordan Goodwin’s 3-pointer increased the lead to eight at 33-25 with 9:42 left in the second quarter. Wright’s driving layup gave Washington a 50-36 lead with 4:36 remaining, Toronto used a 10-0 run to cut the margin to four with 55.3 seconds left, but Washington scored the final five points of the first half to lead 59-50.
Washington shot 54.5 percent (24-for-44) in the first half, led by Kuzma’s 18 points. Toronto shot 41.3 percent (19-for-46), with Siakam scoring 13 points.
Washington led by 13 with 9:09 remaining in the third quarter after Porzingis’s layup and free throw. The lead reached 15 on Deni Avdija’s two free throws with 4:04 to go. Washington led 89-78 after three quarters.
