(Photo: Washington Wizards)
Wizards 115
Pistons 111
October 20, 2017, Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
Last year, the Washington Wizards had just two wins in ten games. Things are different in Year 2 under Scott Brooks as the D.C. team is 2-0, one of only two teams (the Cleveland Cavaliers being the other, that currently boast such a record although the Toronto Raptors can match Saturday night.
Although much of the game was sloppy and had you scratching your head on way the Wizards were not up more, the home team escaped with a 115-111 victory as big-time players made big time plays in big time moments. John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter Jr. have or on their way to make $489 million over four non-rookie contracts with Washington and the trip put their money where their mouth is by combining for 79 points on 28 of 49 shooting (57.1 percent), 17 assists, 16 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 5 steals.
John Wall Issa Gawd
In the first half, Wall had a pedestrian, by his standards, seven points. In the second half, the four-time All-Star showed out with 20 points to finish with an impressive stat line for 26 points on 8 of 12 shooting, 10 assists, and three rebounds.
What is left out of that line that was probably the most impressive was Wall’s two blocks of Tobias Harris late in the second quarter and Reggie Jackson with 14 seconds left in the game.
“It's just me playing defense,” Wall said. “I think I'm the best shot-blocking point guard in NBA history so I'm trying to set records. Just trying to make a play. I see them attack [and] coach wanted us to switch it, didn't want to give up a three. So I was going to try to take a charge and try to avoid it and I got a piece of the basketball.”
“It’s the will to win at the end of the day,” Beal shared. “He has that heart and that passion to get up there and block those shots and contest them to the best of his ability. When it comes down to it, that’s nothing easy. We all fight hard, we all work hard, but I think it’s a timing thing. Like a lot of his transitions ones, I’ll cut the guy off, so he can go block it. It’s all about timing. He has great timing and great athleticism and he takes full advantage of it.”
“He has a special ability to block shots from behind and chase down blocks,” Brooks said. “He has great timing. Obviously, he's athletic. He plays with toughness but those blocks that point guards are not supposed to make, but he has a special ability to make those plays throughout the game."
Otto Porter Jr. Showing His $106.5 Million Worth
Against Philadelphia, the max money wing scored Washington’s first eight points of the 2017-18 season, but ended up with just two points after that. Porter extrapolated that trend even further against Detroit as he scored 20 points in the first half, but finished with just 28 with only two of those coming in the fourth quarter.
Porter also had 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists in a game-high 38 minutes, but his most important role probably came as a bridge between the first and second unit. The bench allowed a 15 points swing in the first half, but were it not for some timely buckets from Porter in both halves, things may have not ended up so pleasantly for the Wizards.
“Otto can shoot midrange,” Wall began rattling off Porter’s skills. “Otto finds ways to get off his rebounds. He does a great job of slashing the run in transition. Leave him open on the three-point line and we penetrate and we're going to find him and knock down shots. That's a good thing. He's not one of those ones you need to call the play for. We just find ways to find him and he's always in the right place at the right time.”
“It was great man because he really carried us, you know, offensively, we couldn’t get stops and then, he kept us in the game with those back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back buckets he had,” Beal said. “You know, that just shows his growth man and we know that we can hand him the ball, and he can create plays. It was awesome to be able to see him have a game the way he did tonight.”
Three-Point Shooting Results Are Bittersweet
Through two games, the Wizards are an underwhelming 12 of 39 (30.8 percent) from beyond the arc. In less than 19 percent of games last year did Washington have six or fewer made three-pointers, but already have two in as many games this season. Beal, the team’s best shooter, is just 2 of 7, which is most alarming because of the attempts and not necessarily the percentage. Wall partially attributed the lack of attempts on Friday night, just 17, to Detroit “loading up” on the three-point line. Beal joked that there was sitting on the rim that caused his two three-point attempts off of Marcin Gortat tap outs to not fall.
“I think we’re just trying to take what the defense gives us,” sharpshooter Jodie Meeks, 3 of 5 from deep this season, said. “Myself, personally that’s all I can comment on. As long as we win it doesn’t really matter; we don’t have to take any. I think as the season goes on we’ll get more comfortable with one another. Nothing to worry about.”
On the other hand, Washington has scored 235 through two games and only 36, 15 percent, have come via the three-ball. The Wizards again got to the free throw line frequently with 35 attempts of which they knocked down 29. They have 73 free throw attempts through two games (36.5/game), which compared to last year, they only had 36+ three times. Finding ways to score when shots are not falling from deep is one of the most valuable attributes of a team come playoff time because it gives you a chance to win any day of the week.
Inconsistent Defense Remains A Problem
Through eight quarters, the Wizards have allowed the opposition to score 30 or more points in five of those quarters. It has become boringly repetitive to continue to ask players and coaches about it because they repeat the same thing about taking pride, playing physical, and focusing. If the team knows what needs to change, then why are the same mistakes being made since a year ago? It must be infuriating for Brooks that he often has to go into halftime and light a fire under his team. Wall also kept it real when discussing the team’s flaws.
“I was very excited to talk to them at halftime,” Brooks said. “I was looking forward to that. We have to play with a toughness. We're not going to stop them from scoring every time but we got to give ourself the best chance and you do that by playing with toughness. The game of basketball is fun and to me. It's only fun if you compete for 48 minutes. You can't compete whenever you feel like it, you're disappointing your teammates. I told them that. You have to compete for your teammates. If you do that, win or lose, we have to live with it and move on to the next game. I felt that we gave them too many opportunities, 65 points. And it was an easy 65.”
“We didn't do a great job of getting good shots offensively and defensively,” Wall stated. In the first two games, we've been terrible, both units. We showed glimpses of when we were good but if we don't pick it up defensively on the road, we won't win any games. We got to figure out a way to get back to playing defense consistently, and we'll be alright.”
At The End Of The Day, Wizards Are Better Off Than One Year Ago
Similar to last year, although it took longer into the season to do so, Washington has the ability to clamp down on opposing offenses. That is what happened to Detroit tonight when they only scored 16 points in the third quarter after allowing 65 points in the first half.
“We had to be more physical,” Beal said about the difference. “It’s plain and simple. They brought the fight to us in the first half and then in the second half, we brought the fight to them and that’s what it was. It was back and forth. It came down to the wire, it was a great game, definitely a fun game, great environment, but you know, we have to come out better. They kinda hit us in the mouth first, and we didn’t respond too well, but the second half was definitely a different story.”
Wall is not ready to say Washington is struggling at the same degree that they were at time last season, but also understands that the team is playing with fire if the same mistakes continue.
“I wouldn't say ‘here we go again’ because we're showed on glimpses more than what we did last year,” Wall claimed. “We get stops, we're hustling. And then we get a lead, we get relaxed. We're not a good enough team to get relaxed like that. We let teams back in and give them hope.”
Next Up
Washington leaves for the West Coast on Sunday as they will play the Nuggets, Lakers, Warriors, and Kings in a seven-day span. Coming away with a split would not be terrible and coming home 5-1 to start the season would be a victory for the Eastern Conference contenders. Jodie Meeks in particular is looking forward to “good team bonding” as one of the new members of the team.