Rookie Will Riley scored a season-high 18 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:07 remaining, to lead the Washington Wizards to a 116-112 win over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night in a battle of NBA cellar-dwellers.
AJ Johnson added 17 points, while Bilal Coulibaly and Marvin Bagley III each chipped in 15 as the Wizards leaned heavily on their bench to snap Sacramento’s nine-game losing streak. Washington has now won three of four games after enduring a nine-game skid earlier in the season and moved half a game ahead of Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.
Zach LaVine led the Kings with 35 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 32, but no other Sacramento player scored more than 14, with Maxime Raynaud contributing 14. The Kings concluded a 0-6 East Coast trip. Washington’s reserves outscored their starters 61-20, with Skal Labissiere and Sharife Cooper helping secure the victory down the stretch. Cooper’s tip-in gave Washington a 115-110 lead with 37.2 seconds left. Labissiere finished with 13 points, while veteran Anthony Gill played a season-high 27 minutes without scoring.
Sacramento briefly took a 101-98 lead on an 8-point fourth-quarter run by DeRozan, but Riley answered with eight points over the next 3:13 to reclaim control for the Wizards.
Up next:
The Kings return home to face Memphis on Wednesday, while Washington hosts the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
