Jordan Poole’s 23 points carry Wizards past Bulls

Jordan Poole scored a team-high 23 points to help lead the visiting Washington Wizards to a 107-105 win over the Chicago Bulls Monday.

Corey Kispert added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards (14-58), who won their third straight game. Marvin Bagley III scored 16 for Washington, followed by Richaun Holmes’ 14 points and 15 rebounds. Jared Butler dished out a game-high 13 assists.

DeMar DeRozan led Chicago (34-38) with 27 points, while Coby White scored 22. Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso each scored 12, while Andre Drummond collected 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulls, who lost their third straight game. Nikola Vucevic added 16 rebounds.

Trailing by four points at halftime, Chicago took its first lead of the game at the 7:18 mark of the third quarter, when Dosunmu’s triple gave the Bulls a 66-65 lead.

Down 70-68, Washington went on a 14-4 run, capped with Butler’s layup that gave the Wizards an 82-74 lead with 1:34 remaining in the third. Chicago finished the third quarter on an 8-0 run, stamped with Torrey Craig’s triple with 35.8 seconds remaining, tying the game at 82 entering the final quarter.

In the fourth, Washington opened with a 7-0 scoring run, before Chicago fought back to cut the deficit to two with 7:49 left.

From there, Poole’s jumper and Holmes’ three-point play gave the Wizards a 96-89 with 7:08 left. Washington held its seven-point lead with 4:22 remaining, before DeRozan hit back-to-back jumpers to trim the Wizards’ lead to 100-97 at the 3:33 mark.

White’s layup then cut the deficit to one, but Justin Champagnie answered with a 3-pointer, giving Washington a 103-99 advantage with 1:59 left.

DeRozan cut the lead in half with a layup, before Champagnie split a pair of free throws with 31.2 seconds left, giving Washington a 104-101 lead. DeRozan responded with a layup with 9.5 seconds remaining, followed by Kispert’s two made free throws on the ensuing possession.

White then made a pair of free throws, Champagnie split two, and DeRozan missed a three at the buzzer, giving Washington the two-point win.

In the first quarter, the Wizards jumped out to a 15-0 lead at the 8:36 mark — 10 of the points from Poole.

Leading 26-15, back-to-back buckets from Butler and Jules Bernard gave the Wizards a 31-15 lead before DeRozan’s layup cut Washington’s lead to 31-17 at the end of the first quarter.

Holmes scored the final six points of the first half for the Wizards, and his dunk gave them a 53-49 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media