CJ McCollum’s 46-point masterclass snaps Washington’s losing streak
The The Washington Wizards were the worst team in the NBA this season, which is understandable given that they are only in the second year of a complete reconstruction. But they weren’t just bad – they were terrible. They entered their Tuesday night NBA Cup game against the Atlanta Hawks with net rating of -15.5 — complete madness, even for a team with a lot of inexperienced players.
But on Tuesday, one of the Wizards’ veterans u CJ McCollum simple decided to take up the matter into his own hands and stop the 14 game bleeding, and against a good defensive team no less. McCollum, despite being guarded by Dyson Daniels and Nikhil Alexander-Walker, put the Hawks in the mix — scoring 46 points on 10 3-pointers to lead the generally hapless Wizards to a 132-113 victory.
Tuesday night brought back the old McCollum, who, at the urging of the Wizards, took a seat over some of the younger guys on the team. Keeshon George (who was out on Tuesday) as well as Alex Sarr they are tasked with performing difficult tasksbut they are so young that they are outmatched every night. But McCollum, the team’s regular unc, turned back the clock one night and poured it out.
The Wizards were in the midst of a 14-game losing streak that didn’t look like it would end anytime soon. But with McCollum raining down fire from beyond the arc, Washington is at least getting a taste of a rare win — and they might not be done winning games just yet.
The Wizards could extend their winning streak to two games
The Wizards next play Friday night when they take on the Indiana Pacers in NBA Cup action to round out their trip to the group stage. It should be a very winnable game, especially with the struggling Pacers also in the midst of their ongoing injury woes.
Due to the development of the Wizards’ youth, McCollum takes a back seat and still makes the most sense. But if he’s firing on all cylinders like this, it might be best to just let one of the oldest in the group do the cooking.
2025-11-26 03:22:00
