Wizards 123
Nuggets 113
March 8, 2017 - Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
The Wizards are good. Despite the sporadic in-game hiccups, like bad shot selection from John Wall, a lazy defensive stretch, you know, things that can buzzkill a sizable lead, the Wizards still manage to find a find a way to put it together down the stretch and win the game. They've done it all season long, and they've done it twice already on this road trip, where they are now 2-0. All five starters finished in double-figures which was tight. John Wall accumulated another double-double with 30 and 10. Gortat achieved the same with 15 and 11. And Otto Porter is back! Otto hadn't been having the greatest March until he came out of the locker room last night in Denver. Porter ran of 18 points in the second half of last night's game, knocking down all eight of his field goals including two from downtown.
With last night's Wizards win and the Celtics' unfortunate win in Golden State, the Wizards remain in third place in the East, one game behind Boston and just 3.5 behind Cleveland.
To the takeaways!
Quick Hits:
The perfect balance between the starters and second unit.
"I think right now, as far as I know, I think we’ve got one of the worst benches in the league right now."
- Marcin Gortat, November 12, 2016
Ah, the disreputable quote that rocked our precious Wizards world after the team fell to a dismal 2-7 record following a loss to the Bulls in early November. The bench woes for the Wizards was an ongoing dilemma even as the team gradually rose from the ashes of that terrible start, with the team often times being touted for employing one of the best starting 5's in the league, simply because if they didn't do all the work, no one else would. And so, promptly, as our beloved GM usually does, he made some necessary moves to clean up his own spill, and the team has now gone from trotting out the likes of Trey Burke, Marcus Thornton, and Andrew Nicholson to Brandon Jennings, Bojan Bogdanovic, and finally a healthy Ian Mahinmi. Jason Smith, of course, has also become a midrange gawd.
What this new and improved bench has offered is options. It has given Scott Brooks the luxury of having enough talent throughout the roster, not just the starting lineup, so that when certain guys are off, other guys turn it on. Against the Suns on Tuesday, the Wizards relished in 65 bench points, precisely half of the team's point total. Last night in Denver, the bench cooled off while all five starters finished in double figures, including 30 from Wall, 23 from Beal, and a monstrous second half for Otto who finished with 22.
As Jadakiss once poetically spit on a record: "Options a beautiful thing." The Wizards are finally understanding that first hand.
Late-game resilience.
We've certainly milked nearly every minute of Wizards "After-Hours," eh? To the fans who were hard-pressed for sleep these past two nights, we're sorry the team lead you on thinking a 20+ point lead would sustain and that you'd be free to hit the sack before the final buzzer. That didn't happen, unfortunately. On consecutive nights a big Wizards' lead was either given up completely, like when the Wizards trailed in the second half in Phoenix after being up by 22 in the 2nd quarter, or it was minimized to single-digits, like last night when the Wizards were up 90-66 midway through the 3rd but only lead by 9 with three minutes to go in the regulation.
Twice in the 4th quarter the Wizards looked as if they were going to hiccup a considerable lead. Leading by 99-87 going in, the Wizards lead was cut to 10 after a Mason Plumlee dunk at the 11:02 mark. But the Wizards pried away again, taking a 108-92 lead with 6:26 left. Your bed is calling now. You find it to be wise to go brush your teeth and slip into your pajamas (for me that's not putting on much). But you come back and the lead is now just 11, 108-97. And, dammit, you notice John Wall has been reinserted on the court so now you know this game necessitates you to remain awake. At the 1:15 mark it's still just an 8-point lead for the Wizards. WHY? Okay fine. Just a little more runoff the clock and we'll be playing the free throw game. We're almost there. And of course John Wall hits all four of his free throws in the final minute, and the Wizards win the game by 10.
The moral of this segment is that the Wizards continue to persevere. And I'll tell you this: a Wittman-coached team probably doesn't win these games. They become disenchanted. They disengage. They fold. A Scott Brooks team? A Scott Brooks team gets scolded during a timeout for letting a 30 point lead slip to 24. That's the difference. This team has developed an unmatched will to win, and it's rooted from the leadership and direction of their player-friendly coach and the camaraderie he has helped build among his guys.
The kick that rang around the Rockies.
For pretty much all of his tenure in DC, Keef Morris has kept his reputation polished since it was tarnished in Phoenix. An alleged "team cancer" with the Suns has now gone through complete remission as far as antics go. His play on the floor can be questionable at times but even then, the value he brings greatly supersedes any shortcomings.
Nevertheless, Keef has developed a hard-earned reputation for committing fuckery, and that's why last night the refs weren't having any of it after his leg sprung into Mason Plumlee's nuts. It takes a few looks before you can determine for yourself whether or not it was intentional. The argument that it was intentional is stronger than the argument that it wasn't, and that's simply because you'll probably come to the conclusion that Keef gon' Keef. Morris was ejected after the refs called it a flagrant-2, but it didn't seem to faze anyone.
Highlights:
John Wall enjoying the mile-high altitude.
This Brandon Jennings pass made the NBA's #AssistOfTheNight
Otto back y'all!