Washington Celebrates: Abdia and Forzingis with "One of the Exciting Moves of the Season"

The Wizards enjoyed a successful debut of the chin and his cooperation with the Israeli: "Such players do not appear at any moment, that is why he is called a unicorn."

And also: Dinwidi "hurt" by criticism of him in Washington and attacked back, the Wizards deny his claims

Walla!

sport

07/03/2022

Monday, 07 March 2022, 09:21 Updated: 09:28

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Danny Abdia speaks ahead of Washington's return from vacation (Washington official website)

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Washington waited and waited, and at least by the eve of the premiere, the wait and expectation were justified.

Kristaps Forzingis finally made his Wizards debut, scoring 25 points in his first game for the team, and the Wizards defeated Indiana 123: 133.

Forzingis returned to the field after suffering a right knee injury and played for the first time since the Wizards added him from Dallas in a trade nearly a month ago.

It was his first game in total since January 29th.

He had a significant role in the win tonight, even though he only played 21:19 minutes.

"I was happy to be out there on the pitch, despite the minute limit," Forzingis said.

"I tried to stay calm, not do too much, play the right way. Most importantly, we achieved the victory."

Already in the first offensive pose Washington went for the chin, which slowly got into things.

He finished with 7 of 12 from the field, 3 of 4 from three, 8 of 10 from penalties, along with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The most exciting moment was 1:49 minutes to go.

Indiana went on the attack, Kyle Kozma provided an excellent block, the ball went to Danny Abdia who ran all over the field and provided a nice assist to Forzingis, who with one hand drowned in Libya giving the Wizards a 119-124 advantage.

Danny Abdia in Washington Wizards uniform against Indiana (Photo: Reuters)

Danny Abdia drowns in Washington Wizards uniform (Photo: Reuters)

"Everyone was great, they searched and found me, and then Danny threw me Libya at the end," Forzingis said of his and Abdia's move, "It was a great moment for my first game here in Washington, and I look forward to many more moments like that."

The Washington bench also jumped into the sky with enthusiasm, and one of Washington's letters covering the team, Neil Dalal, wrote that "probably one of the Wizards' most exciting moves this season."

"I was pleasantly surprised, to be honest, by his performance," Wizards coach Wes Ansald Jr. said.

"I know we should have been aware of the periods of time he was going to play, but he handled it well."

Kyle Kozma scored 23 points for the Wizards, who took control of the game with a third quarter of 39 points on 61 percent from the field.

Washington is currently just two games away from Brooklyn, Charlotte and Atlanta, and is included in the East's play-in.

Abdia finished with 10 points and 7 assists, and continued with his successful innings.

A good start.

Forzingis (Photo: Reuters)

Christopher Forzingis, Washington Wizards (Photo: Reuters)

Forzingis earned the nickname "Unicorn", both because of its unusual height (2.21 meters) and because of the fact that a giant like him snaps across the arc with such softness.

"It's really something out of the ordinary. I'm really not surprised he won that nickname. He's one of a kind," said Ansald Jr.

According to Kozma, "There are not many players in the world 2.21 meters tall who can score threes. There is one. There is a reason why it is called a 'unicorn'."

Forzingis himself referred to it and said, "Know anything? At first I did not like that nickname. I said to myself, why? I've never heard that word (unicorn) before. Kevin Durant gave me that nickname, and he got stuck, he got stuck. I never liked it. "But now it does. It represents my game. I can play outside, with my length and height. So yes, I try to embrace it and have fun, and play like a unicorn."

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Forzingis arrived from Dallas as part of a trade that sent Spencer Dinwiddie to the Mavericks.

After leaving Washington, Dinwidi said he was "hurt" by the allegations that he had hit the team's locker room.

"This is the thing that hurts the most," said Dinwiddie, after scoring 36 points and handing out 7 assists in the Mavericks' win over Sacramento, "I never criticized Washington, I never said anything negative about the team. In fact, I thanked the owner, I thanked General Meng .

Dinwidi has scored just 8.9 points per game at 27.4 percent in his last nine games in Washington, where the Wizards have lost by eight.

He said, "I fought for these guys. When my role changed - they wanted me to give more, they felt I was throwing a lot - I did it. I got my foot off the gas in terms of points. The team wanted Kozma and Coldwell Pop and these guys to throw. So I said, "Look, I'm getting a salary anyway."

After tonight's game, Washington officials responded to Dinwiddie.

According to Anseld, "I will not go into things and how accurate they are. It is a matter of team spirit. We had to make a change in the trade, and we had to give up someone. He is really a talented player, a good, healthy player, and we hope to profit from this trade."

Kozma said: "I'm sure if you go back later to my quotes, you'll see I said I wanted him to be aggressive, I know Bill also always wanted him to be aggressive and throw. So I ignore that, and concentrate on who is here, and move on."

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