After losing to the Toronto Raptors at home last night, 112-102, the Washington Wizards  traveled to Chicago and defeated the Chicago Bulls 124-120 on Saturday night. This win moves Washington to 2-1 on the season and gives them a much-needed bounce-back win on the second night of a back-to-back.

While getting a win on the road is always good, this is not the kind of performance Washington should be satisfied with. The Wizards held a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter before allowing the Bulls to make things very close down the stretch. The Bulls went on a 19-6 run late in the fourth, cutting Washington’s lead to 118-115 with just 23.3 seconds left remaining in the game. What looked like what was going to be a comfortable finish quickly turned into a close game, forcing the Wizards to keep their starters in and also risk losing the game.

Despite the Bulls almost coming back, Kyshawn George had an amazing game tonight, finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. He also had four blocks and finished the game with a team-best plus 14 rating.

Washington came out of halftime on an 11-2 run, and helping that run was Kyshawn George, who was phenomenal in the 3rd quarter, scoring nine points, six rebounds, and three assists. That helped the team build momentum after trailing at halftime for the third consecutive time. 

Trae Young also had a productive night, finishing with 25 points, 9 assists, and four rebounds. Trae extended his streak to three consecutive games with at least 20 points, but he came one assist short of recording at least 10 assists for the third straight game.

With AJ Dybsta missing his third constitutive game of the regular season, Bilal Coulibaly remaining in the starting line up. In the past two games leading in tonight’s match up against the Raptors, Coulibaly averaged 11 points, four rebounds, two steals and one block (3 stocks a game).

Against Chicago, Bilal finished the game with seven points, four rebounds and two steals. His defensive activity remained  a valuable presence to this team, including a third quarter steal and a great defensive play that forced a turnover for the Bulls. 

Alex Sarr made his presence felt on the defensive end, recording 3 blocks and all 3 blocks coming from the third quarter alone. Justin Champagnie also contributed off the bench, finishing with 11 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double. 

The Wizards leave Chicago with a 2-1 record, but the late-game struggles show that there is still a lot of room for improvement. Washington got the result they needed against the Bulls, but they will need to do a better job of maintaining leads and closing out games as the season continues if they want to compete at a high level.