The Washington Wizards were competitive against the Chicago Bulls tonight at the Verizon Center. They held Chicago to under 100 points and hung around for most of the game. In the end, though, Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer were enough to lead the Bulls to an 87-80 win.
Boozer had 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Rose added 25 points to lead the Bulls. Boozer also hit the critical shot that put the Bulls up by five with under a minute left to play, which gave the Bulls an 85-80 lead. The Wizards had a chance to cut that deficit, but Nick Young airballed a three-pointer and that was their last gasp.
The Wizards just couldn't score consistently enough in the game, particularly down the stretch. The Wizards' two starting big men -- Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, combined to score just seven points on 3-17 shooting, as they were outclassed by Chicago's big men. Blatche was even booed at one point during his 3-14 effort. Nick Young led the Wizards with 22 points, while Kirk Hinrich added 19 and Josh Howard added 13 off the bench.
Rashard Lewis scored eight points on 4-10 shooting in 14 minutes in his first game with the team.