DENVER — With 5.3 seconds remaining and the score tied Saturday night, the after-timeout play’s primary option called for the Washington Wizards to pass the basketball to center Alex Sarr in the middle of the court, have Sarr give the ball to Jordan Poole for Poole to attack the basket.
But when Poole stepped onto the court and figured out how the Denver Nuggets intended to defend, he gave inbounder Kyshawn George different instructions.
“By any means,” Poole told George, “just get me the ball.”
What followed turned out to be the Wizards’ most thrilling moment of the season. George did pass to Poole, who took one dribble and hoisted a shot from 35 feet over Russell Westbrook’s outstretched right arm.
Nothing but net, with 1.8 seconds left.
A Nikola Jokić heave missed the mark, giving the rebuilding Wizards a 126-123 victory and their most satisfying win of the season. After the final buzzer, Sarr, Bub Carrington, George, Anthony Gill, Colby Jones and Richaun Holmes — wide smiles on their faces — chased Poole before Carrington finally corralled him and playfully tackled him to the Ball Arena court.
“One of our pillars that we preach is joy,” Carrington explained later in Washington’s still-happy postgame locker room. “That was a joyous moment, obviously. We got the win, a buzzer-beater, and it felt like a really hard-fought team win. Alex went off, but it felt like a really good win for all of us.”
All nine Wizards who played Saturday made important contributions, none more obvious than Sarr, a rookie who had been the No. 2 overall pick in June and found himself matched up most of the night against Jokić, the three-time league MVP and a top contender for the award again this season. Sarr finished with a career-high 34 points, six rebounds and five assists in a performance that ought to boost his confidence. It should also be noted that, on Poole’s go-ahead shot, Sarr screened Denver’s Christian Braun to help give Poole space to receive the inbounds pass.
Make no mistake, Jokić put his imprint on the game, with 40 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. But for one night, Sarr, who weighs 60 pounds less than Jokić, leaving him susceptible to Jokić’s power game, almost matched the Denver superstar basket-for-basket. Sarr harnessed his agility and speed advantages to make up for his strength disadvantage.
“He is good,” Jokić said. “He shot the ball really well. He was rolling. He was playing off the others really good. So I think he has a future in the NBA for sure.”
With Washington trailing 116-113, Sarr received a pass in the left corner from George and drained a 3 to tie the game with 2:13 to go. “That’s a shot everybody wants me, and needs me, to take at this time,” Sarr said.
A few sequences later, with Washington trailing 121-120, George stationed himself in the left corner, caught a pass from Poole and sank a 3 of his own.
Sarr helped make that play happen. Because Sarr was standing near the top of the arc and was a potential target for a pass from Poole, Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. shaded toward Sarr, which, in turn, left George open. That’s a sign of what the Wizards’ front office and coaching staff see for Sarr in his future; they believe one of Sarr’s game-changing traits will be his ability to stretch defenses as a floor-spacing center, not only making shots himself but also creating opportunities for teammates through the gravity he creates.
For George, it was a further sign of his growth. Two nights earlier in Detroit, he made three of the four 3-pointers he attempted in the fourth quarter to help the Wizards defeat the Pistons 129-125. Yet as much fun as that victory was, Saturday’s win exceeded it.
“It was amazing,” George said. “A sellout crowd, 19,800 people, I think. A super-great environment. A tough game, great team and we came up with the win, which is amazing.”
The Wizards have won six of their last 10 games. The trade-deadline additions of veterans Khris Middleton and Marcus Smart have made it easier for youngsters such as Carrington, George and Sarr to function on the court. The elevation of Holmes into the backup center role has helped, too.
To be sure, though, the Wizards (15-51) may ultimately regret their recent improved play. The Utah Jazz (15-52) now hold the league’s worst record. The Charlotte Hornets (17-49) and New Orleans Pelicans (18-50) are chasing lottery odds, too.
If Washington finishes the regular season with a bottom-three record, it and two other teams will have the best possible — and equal — odds of winning the first, second, third or fourth picks in the draft. That scenario would be ideal for the Wizards, who no doubt would love the chance to select Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey.
But there is incentive to finish with the league’s worst record because that team can receive no worse than the fifth overall pick. The team with the second-worst record will enter the lottery with a 20.0 percent chance of receiving the sixth pick. The team with the third-worst record will have a 26.0 percent likelihood of drafting sixth and a 7.0 percent chance of drafting seventh.
This begs crucial questions. Do the Wizards view the upcoming draft as having up to five potential star prospects? And if so, how much better is the draft’s fifth-best long-term prospect than the draft’s sixth-best prospect? If there is more than a marginal difference, then Washington would have plenty of incentive to do everything it can not to finish with the league’s second-worst record or worse; while it’s gratifying to see the team’s rookies succeed now, a 20.0 percent chance of drafting sixth would be worrisome.
Another nightmare scenario would be to drop out of the bottom three altogether and start to see their chances of drafting in the top four erode.
None of the players on Washington’s current roster should worry about any of that, of course. On Saturday, they reveled in their victory and, just as important, what that victory might indicate about the rookies’ long-term potential.
“Being a young team, I think it’s just really good for us,” Poole said. “It was big for us, and I feel a lot of our players grew up tonight, and those are the things that don’t only set us up for the next game or next week or the end of this season. But that sets up for next year, trying to make playoff runs, needing to win big games … and it’s just good for our guys to see that right now.”
(Photo of Jordan Poole, center, celebrating with teammates: Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images)
