(Photo: Washington Wizards)
Wizards 92
Timberwolves 89
November 28, 2017, Target Center, Minneapolis, MN
With two longs days off after the Washington Wizards second straight blown double-digit lead, the fan base was ready to burn the team for having dismal clutch statistics. Again, without John Wall (left knee soreness) and on the road against a multi-talented Timberwolves team, the Wizards had their hands full. Washington came back from a 13-point second half deficit and avoided losing their third straight game by beating Minnesota 92-89.
Slow Start Sheds Doubt
Less than five minutes into the game, the road team gave up 17 points. Washington was on pace to give up 169 points. With just a minute left in the first quarter, the Wizards were down 30-18 and things did not look good. The team started 4 of 16 from the field, while Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. were a combined 4 of 15 in the first half. All signs indicated that Washington would again drop to .500 and have a disappointing first quarter of the season, but then came a life line from probably the least likely source.
Big, Beautiful Bench Boost
All of last season, it was a near consensus that the Wizards biggest weakness was their bench that consistently blew leads built by the starters. That narrative is slowly reversing this season as the second unit is becoming competent of at the very least maintaining the margin if not closing deficits and expanding leads. Tonight went a long way for Scott Brooks’ confidence in the unit as they had a whopping 49 points, six more than the starters totaled.
The bench put together an 18-2 run that could not have been more impressive. Kelly Oubre Jr. dunked, Jodie Meeks made a three, Meeks hit another one, Mike Scott dunked, Tomas Satoransky made a three, Meeks hit another one (DJ Khaled voice), and Satoransky hit a runner.
Oubre had 16 points on 7 of 14 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists in 31 minutes. Scott had 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting with five rebounds and two steals after Brooks left him on the bench in three of the last six games. Meeks had 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting, all from three, to provide a spark.
Tomas Satoransky Earning More Playing Time
Brooks has previously said that he plays the all bench lineup, even when it is struggling, because he wants them to build an identity. When Wall was ruled out for two weeks, I pondered if Satoransky should be given the starting job so that Tim Frazier could continue to gain chemistry with his second unit. Now, I am wondering if Frazier should be relegated to the reserve point guard role once Wall returns.
Tonight, Frazier had a pedestrian stat line of two points and four assists in under 16 minutes in which he was -11. Satoransky had a stat stuffing seven points, six assists, five rebounds, and a steal in under 22 minutes in which he was +12. Brooks opted to put Satoransky back in at the end of the first half and rolled with Bradley Beal as the point guard late in the game.
Ian Mahinmi Slowly Proving Worth
The four-year, $64 million contract is still a disaster, but at least Mahinmi is in some way contributing. Last season, he was constantly hurt so it is a partial wash, but this season, he has been horrendous with bricks for hands offensively and a foul collecting body defensively. Tonight, was different.
He essentially played the final 16 minutes of the second half and he had a game-high +18 in his most minutes played with Washington: 26:30. Most importantly, he was getting it done on the defensive end as he helped hold Karl-Anthony Towns to 2 of 6 shooting in the fourth quarter after the talented big began the game 7 of 13 from the field.
Otto Porter Jr.: The Closer
With Beal missing yet another potential game-winning shot against Portland on Saturday, many called for Porter to receive more shots in crunch time situations. The max money wing finished with 22 points on 8 of 18 shooting including 4 of 8 from deep and eight rebounds, but the most impressive part of his night was his two buckets with less than a minute to go.
Down 89-87 with 58.6 seconds to play, Porter got to the rim and made his layup off of a pass from Scott, which may have been a designed play out of Brooks’ timeout. Then with 25.9 seconds to play and the game tied, Porter took a pass from Beal, stepped one foot in from the three-point line and drained a 22-foot jump shot that would go down as the game winner. "Yes, we need to get him some more looks," Brooks said about drawing up the final shot for Porter.
Next Game: The Wizards have a quick turnaround as they will travel to Philadelphia immediately after Tuesday’s game for their second back-to-back of the season in a rematch of opening night. This back-to-back is their longest travel between back-to-backs this season at 984 miles.