The Sports Xchange
Dec 31, 2017
WASHINGTON -- Bradley Beal scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter and John Wall had 21 as the Washington Wizards rallied past the Chicago Bulls for a 114-110 win on Sunday.
The Wizards (21-16) moved in front for good on Wall's three-point play with 29.4 seconds remaining for a 112-110 lead. Mike Scott scored 17 points for the Wizards, who end 2017 with back-to-back wins.
Nikola Mirotic scored 21 points for the Bulls (13-23). Chicago had won 10 of 12 games since Dec. 8 with the only losses coming against Eastern Conference contenders Boston and Cleveland.
Kris Dunn had 19 points and 11 assists for the Bulls, but he missed a jumper with 25.4 seconds remaining.
Chicago fouled Beal, who missed a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left, but the Bulls lost possession in the backcourt. Wall pushed the lead to four with two from the free-throw line with 9.1 seconds remaining.
Beal sank 7-of-13 3-pointers and came up one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double. Wall also had nine assists.
Kelly Oubre scored 12 points for the Wizards, who finished 16 of 36 from beyond the arc. The Bulls shot 8 of 35 on 3-pointers and 46.7 percent overall.
Robin Lopez had 16 points for the Bulls. Lauri Markkanen, Justin Holiday and David Nwaba each scored 11.
Washington entered Sunday as one of six teams with a losing record (9-10) against teams under .500. The other five teams have 12 wins or less on the season.
Scott's jumper with 8:25 remaining gave Washington's its first lead since 6-5 at 94-93. Neither side led by more than three points from there.
The Bulls continued their surging ways in the first half with a 12-point lead, though the Wizards rallied behind a small-ball lineup that included the 6-foot-8 Scott at center. Scott made all five of his field goal attempts in the first half and scored 13 points as the Wizards trailed 63-59.
NOTES: The Bulls bench outscored the Wizards' reserves 46-32. ... Wizards F Mike Scott returned to the team after missing Friday's win over the Houston Rockets for the birth of his second child. ... Bulls G Kris Dunn played 32 minutes after sitting out Friday's game with left patella tendinitis. ... G Bradley Beal recorded his first 30-point scoring game since tallying 34 in Washington's Dec. 7 win at the Phoenix Suns. ... The Bulls kick off 2018 Monday in Chicago against the Portland Trail Blazers. ... Washington hosts the New York Knicks on Wednesday.