(Photo: Tomas Satoransky)
Wizards 109
Pistons 91
December 1, 2017 | Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.
Without John Wall and Bradley Beal having to wear tinted goggles following a blow to the eye, the Washington Wizards had an uphill battle against the Detroit Pistons, who came in with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Despite a 16-2 run by the road team midway through the second quarter, Washington was able to comeback from a seven-point deficit to top Detroit, 109-91.
Second Half Surge
After blowing a seven-point second quarter lead, Scott Brooks must have lit a fire under the asses of his team because the starters came out and kicked some rear end to start the second half. Washington went on a 17-0 run as Detroit did not score until nearly five minutes into the quarter. Per Elias, the Wizards began the second half on a 17-0 run. It was the longest run to open a half in the NBA this season, trumping a 16-point run by the 76ers to open the first half against the Trail Blazers on November 22.
Everything was working for Washington. Morris had a dunk, Porter hit a fadeaway, Beal had a running layup and-1, Porter hit a pullup, Beal had a driving layup, Frazier got a layup, Gortat hit an awkward hook that Wall made fun of him for, and Frazier hit a floater. The Wizards turned a six-point halftime deficit into an 11-point advantage in a blink of an eye. It was smooth sailing from there as the home team never had their lead cut to less than eight the rest of the way.
“I think it was the defense,” Brooks said as the Wizards forced the Pistons to miss their first six shots of the third quarter. “Our defense created a lot of opportunities for us to get eight, I think 10, layups in that third quarter. I'm going to say this until I'm blue in the face: we are a good team when we defend, and we create offense off of our defense. And that just gives us our extra edge that we need. Tonight, that third quarter was--I don't know if they scored the first five minutes--but that quarter was the best quarter we played all year.”
Winning the Boards Battle and More
Detroit is one of the more physically dominant teams in the NBA thanks to Andre Drummond, but Washington kept him relatively and check and cleaned up the glass well. The Wizards out rebounded the Pistons 49-32 and only allowed four offensive rebounds. The home team on the other hand had 16 offensive rebounds that they turned into 19 second-chance points. Washington also flexed their muscle with 54 points in the paint compared to just 38 allowed. It is clear the Wizards won the effort battle and that did not sit well with one head coach.
“They tried really, really hard and we didn't try at all,” Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy said postgame. “I mean, we got out-worked [and] out-efforted. A really disappointing and embarrassing night for us. We just didn't bring anything in the second half at either end. We played with no energy on the offensive end, they got into us. Hell, in the first three minutes we only had one shot hit the rim. I mean, we couldn't make a pass [and] it wasn't deflected. We brought nothing to the table at all, 17-to-nothing run. Then we got it back to eight a couple times but that was it. We got dominated in the second half. We brought nothing to the game. It was an embarrassing effort on our part.”
“I think what happened was we are not used to having an entire team crash offensive glass.,” Drummond explained. “They had their guards coming in, and their threes and fours crashing the glass. We are used to just having the fours and fives battling the paint and usually the guards would come grab the scraps that would come out of the paint. We didn't do a good job of adjusting to that throughout the game.”
Tomas Satoransky With His Game of His Career
There are almost too many career-highs to count. Satoransky’s final line was 17 points (career-high), on 5 (career-high) of 6 shooting including two (career-high) three-pointers and five free throws (career-high). The 6-foot-7 point guard added four boards and assists. In his last four games coming off the bench without John Wall, Satoransky has 40 points, 22 assists, 14 rebounds, 14 of 22 (63.6 percent), and 0 (ZERO!!!) turnovers. The Czech native has 23 straight assists without a turnover, which is ridiculous.
“Tomas [Satoransky] was a big factor,” Brooks said about the win. “I'm happy for him. He's a guy that works extremely hard every single day, and there are days when he doesn't play, there are weeks and months that he doesn't play but he's always willing to do whatever it takes to be ready and I'm glad that he had a great game because we needed every shot that he made.”
For Satoransky, last year was an adventure because it was a tough adjustment for him to America from the European style game. Now, the game is slowing down for him and he is gaining much needed confidence that is translating into an impressive performance level.
“I think I was just able to build confidence up throughout those games,” Satoransky said. “We were playing good as a second unit, and I think that’s something that gives you the confidence when you’re playing your position. I think trying to let the game come to me. Like I said, since I’m playing with confidence and playing good, it’s much easier for me.”
“It felt great,” the point guard said about his scoring night. “I think for the first time I really played with a lot of confidence tonight. I think I had some options to score easy buckets. Everything felt easier, but finally scoring more than one three-pointer. I’ve been working on it very hard. I think I didn’t try to force anything, like I said, let the game come to me. In the last quarter, I felt very confident.”
Markieff Morris With His Game of The Season
Here are the highlights and you can read why he may have had the performance here.
Welcome to D.C. “Capital City Go-Go”
Between the first and second quarter of Friday night’s game, Monumental Sports & Entertainment owner Ted Leonsis alongside Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the name of the Wizards G League team that will be debuting next season will be named the Capital City Go-Go.
“We are thrilled to announce the addition of the Capital City Go-Go to the Monumental Sports & Entertainment family,” said Leonsis in a statement. “The Go-Go music scene has been ingrained in the fiber of our vibrant community for decades and we are proud to help continue that legacy.”
“We are proud and excited to welcome the Capital City Go-Go to Washington, DC,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser. “There is going to be a lot of talent at the new Entertainment and Sports Arena, and we look forward to cheering on all our teams.”
The primary logo is highlighted by the Conga drum, a unique aspect of Go-Go music. The stripes in the drum create a hyphen for Go-Go and also represent the District of Columbia flag. A classic Wizards basketball can be found at the top of the drum while the typeface of Capital City (a popular nickname for the District as well as a reference to the Capital Bullets, as the team was known in their first season after relocating from Baltimore in 1973) is additionally taken from historic logos. Stars and stripes adorn the secondary logo while a pair of music notes symbolize ‘Go-Go.’
Next Game: Washington will never begin a brutal five-game road trip, including four on the West Coast starting with a back-to-back in Utah and Portland on Monday and Tuesday. The Wizards will also face the Suns, Clippers, and Nets on the trip before returning home for four straight.