(Photo: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Wizards 121
Rockets 103
December 29, 2017 | Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.
The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde act for the Washington Wizards continued on Friday as they beat one of the best teams in the NBA, the 25-8 (now 25-9) Houston Rockets. On Monday, Washington beat the best team in the East, but then followed it up on Wednesday with a loss to the worst team in the NBA. In surprising fashion, but at the same time not tally unexpected, the Wizards dominated the Rockets on national television (if NBA TV counts) despite Chris Paul returning to the lineup. But, as John Wall said post game, none of this matters if they cannot back it up on Sunday against the 13-22, yet surging, Chicago Bulls.
Historic Three-Point Shooting For The Team You Would Not Expect
Wizards set a new team record in three-point attempts with 36 after previously shooting 35 on 3/20/17 vs. Boston. They also tied the team record for three-point makes with 18, which they also had on 11/6/13 vs. Philadelphia.
“Both. It’s always both,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni said when asked if Washington’s 50- percent shooting from deep was the result of poor defense or hot shooting. “Give them credit, normally you don’t even shoot 50 percent if you’re in the gym by yourself. Give them credit for doing what they’re supposed to do. We needed to be up on them a little tighter.”
Wizards Defense Was Fun To Watch
Houston was held to 29.2 percent (14 of 48) shooting from beyond the arc that certainly kept this game from being a lot closer than it could have been. That mark was the Rockets fifth worst shooting from deep this season. If it were not for recent signing Gerald Green’s 4 of 6 from deep, Houston would have only shot 23.8 percent from three.
James Harden was held to 20 points on 14 shot attempts. Chris Paul, Ryan Anderson, and Trevor Ariza each went 3 of 11 from the field. Anderson and Ariza combined for 2 of 17 from deep. Washington completely shut down the Houston starters by holding them to a combined 46 points.
“We missed a couple shots but like I said it was not just tonight,” Harden said. “It has been going on for a couple games so find our rhythm, get our groove back, and things will start falling into place defensively and offensively.”
“I’d like to say that we were making them miss, but they did miss some shots,” Scott Brooks said. “It felt like they were a little tired, but I’m not taking anything away from our guys. We were as good defensively as we have been. This is the best offensive team in basketball and they’re not easy to guard. They took 48 threes, they space the floor [and] they have two amazing point guards. It’s weird, I’m probably going to say a dumb comment, but this was one of John’s [Wall] best games and he only had 17 [points] and four [assists]. He controlled the game on both ends of the floor and that’s what I like. He can dominate the game defensively, and I thought he was locked in and it was hard to get around him. Then, our guys off the bench did a good job and Kelly [Oubre Jr.] played well, Otto [Porter] was on fire. I thought that our intensity and our focus was on point, and it has to be. They’re going to take a lot of threes and I thought a lot of them were contested.”
“I mean, he missed some shots,” Wall said. “They missed some wide-open threes early on. I think they were a little fatigued from last night so we just tried to take advantage of it. I think the most important thing is that we did a great job and he made some tough layups but we just didn't try to let him get into a rhythm or put him on the foul line as much. … I think just us as team, the way we took care of the ball. We didn't take bad shots, we didn't force the issue and have a lot of turnovers. We didn't put ourselves in bad situations where they can get out in transition and put us in bad matchups or give up wide open threes or James (Harden) going downhill. I think we just did a great job of getting to the ball and those little things and just being active.”
“This is a team who shoots threes – live and die by the three,” Beal said about Washington’s game plan. “You know they don't shoot many twos unless it's a layup so I think the biggest thing was making sure we put pressure on, you know, James [Harden] and CP [Chris Paul] at times on pick-and-rolls, making their shooters put the ball on the floor as much as possible and forcing them to take a lot of jump shots and layups. The biggest thing we didn't want to do was let them start making threes and bombing up threes because that's what they do but they still had a lot of open looks tonight but for the most part we did a really good job of defending all their actions.”
Air Sato Makes NBA Debut
Going back to last season, teammates and others surrounding Tomas Satornasky have labeled him as a practice dunker. Tonight, he caught the body of Zhou Qi in epic tomahawk fashion. Just watch.
The Juniors Take Over
Otto Porter Jr. had 26 points, 7 assists (ties career-high), and 6 rebounds in 40 minutes to produce a +32 line by tying his career-high for made three-pointers (7). Brooks described Porter’s shooting as “on fire” as the Wizards wing had more three-pointers than Trevor Ariza, PJ Tucker, Ryan Anderson, James Harden, Chris Paul, and Eric Gordon combined (7 of 34). In the past three games coming into the Rockets game, Porter was averaging 17.3 points on 57.6 percent shooting, including 53.3 percent from three, and 5.7 rebounds per game. He took up to another level tonight with Mike Scott out as he welcomed the birth of his second child in Atlanta.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had 21 points (one shy of tying his career-high), 4 rebounds, and 3 steals in 26 minutes to produce a +24 line. Oubre had career-highs in field goals made (9) and attempts (18). He has as many games with double-digit scoring this season as last and as many three-pointers this season as last, as well, through 36 games. In Oubre's last three games not including against Houston, Oubre was averaging 14.3 points on 54.8 percent shooting, including 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Jodie Meeks Finding His Groove?
Probably the biggest disappointment from the offseason, especially given the Wizards lack of options at the shooting guard position with Sheldon Mac (torn Achilles) out, Meeks may be ready to turn a corner, which Brooks admits they need. The veteran sharp shooter had 14 points on 4 of 6 shooting in Atlanta, his hometown, and he kept it up against Houston with 13 points on 4 of 8 shooting, including three three-pointers.
“Just the hard work,” Meeks credited the upswing to. “I don't really worry about missed shots. Obviously, I was struggling sometimes with a new system and a new offense. It takes some time to get adjusted. But it's still early – we're not even halfway through the season. Just keep my confidence and taking shots.”