Washington, DC – Jordan Crawford came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and Bradley Beal added 16 points and four blocks as the Washington Wizards toppled the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, 114-101.
Nene and John Wall scored 14 points apiece for Washington, which extended its season-high home winning streak to four games. Wall, who made his first start of the season, also contributed five assists and two blocks in the victory.
The Wizards have won five of eight since Wall returned to the team's lineup after a left kneecap injury forced him to miss the start of the season.
"We feel like we can win every game," Crawford said. "We have so many options...in crunch time when we need a bucket."
Derrick Williams poured in 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Timberwolves, who have dropped six straight road contests and eight of their last nine overall. Andrei Kirilenko added 17 points and four boards in the losing effort.
The Wizards led 29-25 after one quarter and held onto the edge for most of the second before establishing some breathing room with Beal's three-point play with under four minutes left, which kicked off a 13-4 run to end the first half.
Washington led at the break, 60-46, and shot 59.5 percent from the floor, while Wall had 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The former No. 1 pick, who's had to come back slowly from his injury, brought the home crowd to its feet before halftime as he drove through the lane and spun around Ricky Rubio to lay-in a pretty reverse bucket.
Not much changed into the second half, as Washington increased its lead to 21 twice in the third quarter before going into the final stanza up comfortably, 91-73, after Crawford nailed 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
The home team led by as many as 22, 103-81, on Trevor Ariza's layup with six-plus minutes remaining before Minnesota chipped away toward the end of the contest.
The Wolves played yet again without forward Kevin Love (hand), guard Brandon Roy (knee), center Nikola Pekovic (quadriceps) and forward Chase Budinger (knee). They came into the game having lost their last five on the road by an average of 15.0 points.
"We couldn't make enough shots or limit their easy opportunities," Timberwolves acting head coach Terry Porter said.
Game Notes
The Wizards have won seven of the past 10 matchups between the teams and 13 of 17 at the Verizon Center ... Washington shot 57.8 percent from the floor (48- of-83) and never trailed ... Minnesota converted just 3-of-14 from 3-point range ... Mickael Gelabale added 15 points off the bench in defeat.
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