Jordan Poole’s late three-pointer shoots Wizards out of NBA’s worst record

With only 8.1 seconds remaining in last night’s matchup between Washington and Charlotte, Jordan Poole rose in the air beyond the arc and sunk a shot that put his team ahead to beat their rivals 113 to 110. The guard’s shot meant that the Wizards are no longer the NBA’s worst record, as the Pelicans fell into the league’s cellar. 

Even though the D.C. club started off this 2024-25 campaign with a 16-game losing streak, they are finally out of the bottom of the league’s standings with a 5-23 record, now ahead of New Orleans’ 7-23 mark, and not too dar behind Toronto’s 7-24.

With Washington going 3-5 in the past weeks, with two victories against the Hornets that are a week apart, they are starting to look up. “I’ve always felt like I’ve been the man for the moment, and I make big shots all the time,” Poole said. “Credit to the coaching staff for putting the ball in my hands, and shout-out to my teammates for finding me as well.”

OH YEAH! JORDAN POOLE! pic.twitter.com/evmxevhRXy

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 27, 2024

The team star, who dropped in a total of 25 points, led the charge alongside three rookies all averaging at least 25 minutes per contest, consisting of Kyshawn George, Bub Carrington and Alex Sarr, who had 25 points and three blocks.

“We’re learning, we’re trying to get up a lot of 3s, but I think something that coach harps on night in and night out is just relying on our defense,” said Jordan, who acts like the team’s veteran despite being only 25-years of age. “Because we’re such a young team right now that we’re still trying to find our identity on offense.”

Incredibly enough, the Wizards defeated their opponents despite only scoring 17 points in the final quarter. “We got gritty defensively,” said coach Brian Keefe at the end of the game. “You can win sometimes when you don’t shoot the ball well. Great effort by our guys.”

LaMelo Ball produced another impressive statline on Thursday, but still wasn’t able to keep the Hornets from losing at Washington

The Capital One Arena witnessed both Jordan Poole and LaMelo Ball battle it out with two impactful performances for their respective squads. However, the Hornet star’s 31 points on 12-of-27 shooting, and six assists in 38 minutes of play, weren’t enough to avoid defeat.

Miles Bridges also contributed 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting, a season-high 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks for the losing side, but wasn’t able to block the Wizard guard’s last-second shot that finally won the contest.

Coach Charles Lee believes they played a very strong second half of the game. “To me, it’s like a tale of two halves. First half, you give up two 34-point quarters and dig yourself a hole,” said the Charlotte tactician.

He then added: “There’s a lot of possessions there in the first half that I wish we had back and maybe [we’re] not in the predicament that [we’re] in at the end of the game… We’re going through a little bit of adversity right now. This group is aiming together, they’re competing harder, they’re learning how to get through.”