By Ken Cruz
Eagle News Service
(Eagle News) — It’s Cherry Blossom season in Washington D.C. To celebrate, the Washington Wizards held Cherry Blossom Night for their Tuesday night game on March 29, 2022, versus the Chicago Bulls at Capital One Arena.
The jumbotron was lit up in the bright pink color of cherry blossoms and unveiled the Wizard’s special Bloom City jerseys which will be worn by Washington next season.
Unfortunately for the Wizards, the shots bloomed only for the Bulls in the fourth quarter as Chicago’s lead ballooned in what was a close game for three quarters. Chicago outscored Washington 32-21 in the final period and finished the game with a 107-94 victory.
The Wizards were able to contain Zach LaVine to 14 points in 4-for-10 shooting but did not have an answer for the other two parts of the Chicago 3-headed monster. Nikola Vucevic scored 27 points while DeMar DeRozan had an efficient 32 points.
Washington Wizards Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr., commented on the impact that DeRozan and Vucevic had on the game.
“To consistently having to get the ball from DeMar’s hands is tough. He honestly got going early in the second half. Vucevic in the first half, obviously DeMar in the second,” Unseld said.
For the Wizards, Rui Hachimura had his best game of the season with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Kristaps Porzingis was held to only 14 points but contributed 10 rebounds.
The Wizards are all but eliminated from the playoffs but have a goal to finish the season strong and to make each game count.
The Bulls are looking to bounce back from a rough March and get hot at the end of the season to make a deep playoff run.
(Eagle News Service)