WASHINGTON D.C. - Nick Young went off again, and the Washington Wizards won because of it. After a slow start, Young scored 18 points in the third quarter and 29 for the game, as the Wizards held on to defeat the Toronto Raptors 98-95.
Young struggled early in the game, but got his teammates involved a bit with four assists. Then, he got his shot going, and the Wizards didn't look back. Overall, he shot 10-19 from the field and 7-8 from the free-throw line while holding fellow USC product DeMar DeRozan to 3-11 shooting.
"My teammates were calling plays for me," Young said. "They were trying to feed the hot hand, and I had the hot hand."
Andray Blatche had 17 points and 13 rebounds to help the Wizards, while JaVale McGee had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Yi Jianlian added 10 off the bench, including a coast-to-coast slam that had the Wizards' locker room buzzing.
Jose Calderon had it going for the Raptors, with 21 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds. Andrea Bargnani added 25 points for Toronto.
John Wall struggled, scoring just eight points on 4-14 shooting. After the game, he admitted that he wasn't 100-percent healthy, and he had a bandage on his hand. When asked about his jump shot, Wall admitted that his hand injury has made it difficult to grip the ball.