The Washington Wizards were on the VERY wrong side of history last night.
Despite once being up by 35 points in the 2nd quarter – and 30 at the halfway mark – Bradley Beal and Co. walked off the court with their 25th loss of the season. Yup, that’s right, a Los Angeles Clippers team without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George stormed all the way back to take the lead with 1.9 seconds left on a ridiculous 4-point play by Luke Kennard.
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1486171088073592836?s=20
The Clippers are the first team over the last 25 seasons to overcome a 24-point deficit and win 3 times in the same season. And they did it in just the month of January, beating the Nuggets, Sixers and now Wizards. And… they did all three without Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) January 26, 2022
According to ESPN Stats & Info and Sportsnet Stats, that is tied for the 2nd-largest comeback effort in the play-by-play era (1996-97), matching the Kings come back over the Bulls in 2009 (let’s not talk about that). The largest comeback in the play-by-play era came back in 1996 by the Utah Jazz.
ESPN also shared that teams were now 2-16,239 over the past 20 seasons when trailing by 7+ points with 20 seconds to go.
Before tonight, NBA teams were 1-16,239 over the last 20 seasons when trailing by 7+ points with under 20 seconds to go in regulation.
The Clippers just became No. 2 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6M7axxwYgC
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 26, 2022
I hope the Wizards had plenty of trash bins in the locker room because I don’t know how you stomach that kind of loss. The team started the year as one of the hottest in the Eastern Conference, but they have plummeted since to the 10th spot with a record of 23-25. Washington has now lost four games in a row as they embark on one of their tougher stretches of the season with games against the Grizzlies, Bucks, 76ers, Suns, Heat, and Nets up next.
Good luck!