The Golden State Warriors did not overpower the Washington Wizards so much as outlast them.
On a night when the margin for error felt thin again, the Warriors held off a persistent Washington rally and escaped Chase Center with a 131-126 win, their third straight victory and another needed result in the Western Conference play-in race. Golden State improved to 36-38, while Washington fell to 17-56.
The Warriors had enough offense to control long stretches, but never quite enough to turn the game into a comfortable finish. Kristaps Porzingis led Golden State with 28 points, while Gui Santos continued his surge with 27. Brandin Podziemski added 22 points and 10 rebounds, giving the Warriors a stabilizing all-around performance in a game that kept threatening to slip sideways.
Golden State started sharply, building an early edge behind clean execution and strong shooting, but Washington refused to disappear. The Wizards’ young group kept finding a way back into the game, with Bilal Coulibaly scoring 21 points, Bub Carrington adding 16, and reserve Will Riley leading the bench charge with 22. Washington’s second unit was especially effective, piling up 66 bench points and helping turn what looked like a routine home win into a nervy fourth-quarter test.
The swing came late. Trailing by five, Golden State answered with a decisive run, fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from Santos and Podziemski. That sequence flipped the game back in the Warriors’ favor. Santos also knocked down two free throws with 11.4 seconds left, helping seal the result.
What separated the teams in the end was not the three-point line, where Washington largely kept pace, but the interior game. The Warriors attempted 31 free throws to the Wizards’ 10, a gap that proved crucial in a game decided by five points. Golden State’s size and downhill aggression gave it just enough of an edge when the offense bogged down and the game tightened.
It was not a polished performance, and the Wizards deserve credit for making the Warriors work for every bit of it. But at this stage of the season, style matters less than survival. Golden State got the win, kept its footing in the fight for the play-in home game picture, and did so once again without the luxury of full health.
