Washington Wizards Led to Victory By Forward Corey Kispert's First-Half Performance

Observations from the Washington Wizards' 113-106 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in their home opener.

The home fans went home happy Saturday as the Washington Wizards defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 113-106 in this season's home opener.

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A very balanced attack from the Wizards offense made them very hard to stop as they had six players go for double figures in the scoring column including all five starters.

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During the first half an explosion from forward Corey Kispert had him scoring 22 points which helped Washington build a big lead that they held onto for the victory.

"It was huge because I couldn't hit the side of a barn tonight," forward Kyle Kuzma said about Kispert's first half postgame. "If he didn't get hot it probably would have been a much much closer game."

Kuzma didn't have the best shooting night but he added 21 points including 11 in the fourth quarter which was huge to keep the lead intact when it seemed it was slipping away.

Throughout the game, he kept his confidence and kept taking shots and it paid off for him and the Wizards in crunch time.

Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert (24) is introduced prior to the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Capital One Arena / Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The aggressiveness of Washington's offense is evident when watching them play and if they continue that style they can keep up with any team in the league on any night.

It is also fun to watch.

They have multiple guys that they can go to in different spots and a point guard in Tyus Jones who keeps the team calm when they need composure and to get the offense settled down.

And it had to feel good for Jones to get a win over his former team.

But when you can go to your bench and pick a guy that can shoot and score like Kispert it adds a whole extra dynamic to your team.

"Huge game from Corey tonight, we wouldn't win if it wasn't for his first half outing," guard Jordan Poole had to say about Kispert. "Spacing the floor, knocking down shots, but I have been on him all training camp like, 'Bro just be aggressive.'"

Poole struggled from the floor much like Kuzma, but when it came down to crunch time he made big plays and had a huge and-one basket that put the game away.

Oh, and don't forget that awesome alley-oop pass he had to Kuzma.

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— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) October 29, 2023

Now that is really fun to watch.

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During the win over the Grizzlies, everyone contributed with effort defensively.

In fact that effort led the defense to be good most of the night as they held a physical Memphis team to only 18-of-40 shooting inside the paint for 36 points.

Adding on to the improvements on defense the Grizzlies only had 14 fast break points and compared to the game against the Pacers, it was much better.

They still did struggle with perimeter defense, giving up 19 three-pointers including eight in the third quarter which helped start to close the gap in the score.

All in all, it wasn't a perfect game for the Wizards, none of them will be, but like coach Wes Unseld Jr. said postgame, "It's good to be able to learn from a win."

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