(Photo: Washington Wizards)
After a tough loss to the Phoenix Suns, the Washington Wizards looked to turn things around on their home court against LeBron James and the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers. The game had all the stars of D.C. out. With a sold-out arena, numerous local and national media, and an ESPN national television audience, it had all the ingredients necessary for an epic showdown.
One big storyline in this game was the return of #DeathRowDC as Markieff Morris returned from hernia surgery and a one-game suspension that sidelined him for six weeks. Otto Porter Jr., who was sidelined in the Suns game due to an illness, was also back on the court so this was the first-time fans got the see the full Wizards core on the floor together.
The Wizards fought but ultimately came up short as the Cavs won 130-122. Bradley Beal paced the Wizards with 36 points, but James proved to be too much. Here are five takeaways from a wild night.
Early Turnovers
The Wizards did not get off to the start that they wanted with turnovers on their first two possessions. With Keef back on the floor, the Wizards went right to him but he turned the ball over. The two turnovers led to Cleveland scoring the first four points of the game. In the first quarter alone, Washington had a total of five turnovers that the Cavs turned into 10 of their 42 points in the frame.
Kelly Oubre Jr.’s Career Night
One bright spot for the Wizards that was glaring was Oubre’s career night off the bench. The third-year player from Kansas had a career-high 21 points and five three-pointers on 7 of 14 shooting. With Morris on a 16 minutes restriction and likely to remain on a restriction for a bit, Oubre will essentially play near starting minutes as he did today with 32.
“He's growing up right in front of our eyes,” head coach Scott Brooks said. “The maturity level, being a consistent pro on the court is getting better night in and night out. Going to continue to develop and work with him and try to get him better as the season goes on. Then next season he’s going to even be better. That's the good thing about our group, we have a pretty big window with a lot of guys that should get better every year.”
“He has been playing good all year,” Morris said. “Him going back to the bench still producing like he is. He is going to be key to this team moving forward.”
LeBron James’ Lit Night
It seems like James loves playing in D.C. despite some of the weird things going on around this town outside of sports. Back in February, he hit a clutch out-of-this-world turnaround three near the baseline that forced overtime. Friday night, he hit shots, dunked, dished off some great passes and did just about everything a sports fan could want if they got a ticket to see this guy play.
James finished just shy of a triple-double with 57 points on 23 of 34 shooting, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. It was the most points a player has scored in a game so far this season and his second-highest point total in a game (61 in 2014 with the Miami Heat).
Check out what Wizards and Cavs’ players and coaches had to say about the historic night here.
Wizards Tried Everything vs. LBJ
From John Wall guarding him, to the bench, to going with all small players later in the game, it seemed like nothing could slow down or stop James. He was just too good.
“I just asked [Brooks], ‘can I guard him myself?’” Wall said postgame. “Just the type of person I am, type of competitive person I am. Whenever you have the opportunity to go against one of the best players to ever play the game, why not take on the challenge? That’s the only way I can make myself better as a defensive player and show that I have heart.”
“Could've went with Otto [Porter] but we knew we were going to double team so we wanted to make sure, maybe double team some of his base line post ups,” Brooks explained. “We wanted to come up with the bigger guy of the small line-up we had out there. Tonight, nothing that we did, and we did a lot of things, was going to work. The guy was on fire. That's what happens certain nights with great players.”
John Wall Scare
Wall did not have his best game, but still finished with 13 points, 15 assists, and six rebounds. The bad news is Wall was 5 of 12 from the free throw line and 4 of 13 from the field. It seemed like he was missing more than seven free throws. Late in the third, he came down and was in some pain and it took a few minutes to get up. He was helped up by his teammates and would play through the injury for the remainder of the game.
After the game, Wall came out of the training room with a sling on his left shoulder before speaking to reporters and said his shoulder was “on fire.” X-rays came back negative, but his status for Sunday’s game in Toronto will likely be dependent on his pain tolerance. Soreness will set in overnight, but he will likely be receiving non-stop treatment for the next 48 hours. Here is what Wall had to say about the injury.
"Trying to split a screen and then shoulder to shoulder contact, but I felt like he [Frye] threw his shoulder into mines cuz I’ve split screens before … so I think his impact, the way he was coming, kind of gave me a stinger," Wall shared.
"Naw," Wall commented when asked if he ever had pain like that before. "You know me, I usually get up off the ground, but I could get up. It was like my arm was on fire [tough to hear]."
"I shouldn’t have been out there but, I tried to compete … [told trainers] to give me some spray and try to play through it," Wall admitted.
"I hope so," Wall said when asked if he will be able to play through it. X-rays came back negative.