Washington Wizards 'Bench Was Unbelievable' In Charlotte Hornets Win; Coach Wes Unseld Jr.

Observations from the Washington Wizards much-needed 132-116 victory against the Charlotte Hornets.

The Washington Wizards ended a long nine-day road trip with a huge morale-boosting win over the Charlotte Hornets.

Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma paced the team in scoring finishing with 33 points and nine rebounds.

Kuzma has been a force this season and you can see him being the leader Washington needs him to be.

Second-unit forwards Danilo Gallinari and Corey Kispert along with guards Landry Shamet and Delon Wright all went for double figures in points in what was a domination by the team's bench outscoring the Hornets 72-23.

READ MORE: Wizards' End Four Game Losing Streak

"(The) bench was unbelievable," Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said after the game. "It's comforting to know that you got guys who can come in and impact the game offensively and defensively...That shows a lot of character for guys who hadn't to this point gotten a lot of minutes."

Multiple guys off the bench had more minutes than they have had all year. Wright played 26 minutes, Shamet had 17, and Gallinari played 20. To top it off, rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly played 30 minutes.

Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) loses the ball to Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) during the first half at the Spectrum Center / Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Coulibaly didn't have an eye-popping stat line but he was on the court for nine minutes of the most dominating defensive stretch of the season for Washington so far.

During that 41-17 second-quarter landslide Charlotte only scored eight points while the rookie was on the floor.

The forward's length and quickness on the defensive side of the floor is something he is known for and prides himself on and it disrupted the flow of Charlotte's offense all night long.

So, it isn't a coincidence the Hornets struggled to score with Coulibaly on the floor.

Bilal Coulibaly, tu es un Wizards. 🥹
https://t.co/8rohsex62c

— Wizards France (@WizardsFrance) November 9, 2023

"It was a team win," Kuzma said about the victory. "We got to give some credit to the bench because they played phenomenal tonight, did a great job the entire night whether it was Gallo (Gallinari), Bilal coming in playing defense, Delon... Shamet bringing us a boost, those guys were huge for us, and they really propelled the win for us."

READ MORE: Three Impressive Stats by the Wizards Against the Hornets

Defensively the Wizards had been struggling so much with a lot of questions about their effort this season.

If they continue to play the way they played against Charlotte moving forward that narrative will change quickly.

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