Warriors 139
Wizards 115
April 2, 2017 - Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
(Susan Tripp Pollard/Bay Area News Group)
As impressive as Washington’s upset of Golden State was back on February 28, it was mostly due to an off night from Steph Curry who had shot just 2 of 9 from beyond the arc and scored 25 points. Opposite of regression to the mean, last night Curry went off for 42 points and nine three-pointers, tied for the most the Wizards have allowed in team history joining Kobe Bryant, Ben Gordon, and Ricky Davis. Washington gave up their most points in regulation all season, losing to the Warriors 139-115 and bringing the brutal road trip to an end with a 2-3 record.
Quick Hits:
Washington’s defense looks bad because of poor transition resistance.
The Wizards half-court defense is not stellar but when they are able to match up with the correct assignments, it is not as bad as others would make it out to be. The reason it looks so bad post All-Star break though is because of too many points off turnovers for the opposing team. The Clippers had 20 points off 11 Washington turnovers, the Jazz had 22 points off 15 turnovers, and the Warriors had 28 points off 15 turnovers. The miscues on offense are making them look worse on the defensive and poses a real issue for the playoffs.
Was Scott Brooks sending a message by not playing the starters in the fourth?
When I saw Prada's tweet, I scratched my hand and thought why on Earth would someone think that. If I were a betting man, I would put this reason at 100-1 odds for the likes of John Wall and Bradley Beal staying on the bench so that Scott Brooks could send a message. Instead, and more realistically, I believe Brooks was being a realist and decided to roll the dice on his bench that got the deficit cut to single-digits in the first place. This bench unit has been playing with each other for less than two months when you consider Brandon Jennings, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Ian Mahinmi were not playing at the beginning of the year. Brooks is also a major follower of analytics that prove limiting a player’s minutes is beneficial for the playoffs. Nothing to see here.
There was one minor silver lining for Washington.
Was tonight the return of the real Bojan Bogdanovic? Bogdanovic was 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, which is the most makes for the Croatian since he had a career-high eight 3-pointers against Orlando on March 5. Bogdanovic was also just 2 of his last 19 from deep in his previous six games before the trip to Oakland. Bogdanovic has proved his offensive worth beyond his 3-point shooting with aggressive drives to the basket, but the version Washington needs in the playoffs is certainly the lethal shooter that can drop 20 in a heartbeat. That kind of weapon off the bench can easily be the difference in a couple games of a seven game playoff series.
Highlights/post-game video:
Beal and Jennings weren't too thrilled about the Warriors running up the score in the 4th.
Brandon Jennings gives the Shaqtin' gawd Javale McGee a worthy shove for a late-game 3 attempt.
John Wall sets franchise record for most assists in a season.