Wizards 111
Pacers 102
February 5, 2018 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, IN
For the first time this season, the Washington Wizards have won five games in a row after beating the Indiana Pacers who were without their starting backcourt of Darren Collison and All-Star Victor Oladipo. Much of Washington has done in recent games to gain momentum was carried into Indianapolis as the Wizards kept the ball moving. After Monday’s game, Washington (31-22) is now tied with Cleveland (30-21) for the No. 3 seed, trailing by mere percentage points.
“It's a confidence booster,” Kelly Oubre Jr. began when asked what beating three playoff teams means. “In order to be the best, obviously you have to beat the best. ... I can only think about the now and that's the fact that we are playing really good basketball. ... Everybody eats.”
(Photo: Ron Hoskins via Getty Images)
Everybody Eats, Again
For the second time in three games or four days, whichever you prefer, the Wizards had eight players score in double figures. The even more impressive part about that is the only two players, that played, not to get to double-digit scoring were the point guards. Tomas Satoransky and Tim Frazier instead had six assists each and combined to take just five shots as they facilitated their teammates scoring. The Wizards had 29 assists on 45 buckets, which brings their five-game total without John Wall to 161 assists on 218 FGM (73.9 percent).
“It's just a blessing to see everybody smiling, everybody out there having fun,” Oubre said. “Even the guys that don't score over 10 points, it doesn't matter. You're just happy to see the next guy play well. So that's what's going on here and it's a blessing to be a part of.”
Bradley Beal First Half Fire
The only All-Star on the floor tonight had a typical 21 points in 36 minutes, but what he did in the first half to get his team off to a good start was phenomenal. In 18 minutes, Beal had 17-points on 7-of-10 shooting that helped the Wizards score 58 points in the first half. Beal took a backseat to a degree in the second half, but was certainly feeling it before intermission and probably did not want to go into the locker room in fear of cooling off.
Two Strong Revenge Games
On the other side, former Wizard Bojan Bogdanovic who signed with the Pacers for two-years and $21 million lit up his former team. Tying the second most point in his career, Bogdanovic scored 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting including 5-of-7 from deep. Imagine if Washington could have gotten a discount from him to stay and backup Beal.
In his third game back in Indiana since departing for Washington, Ian Mahinmi showed some promise. Not $64 million of promise, but it is a start. In 24 minutes, Mahinmi has 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting and seven rebounds before eventually fouling out as he continues to rack up the personals. “I just thought Ian came in and sparked us, gave us great energy,” Scott Brooks said about his backup center.
Trade Demanding Jodie Meeks
On Saturday, February 3rd, The Washington Post’s Candace Buckner and NBC Sports Washington’s Chase Hughes both reported that Meeks and his camp are looking for a move to another team where he can receive more consistent playing time. After playing in every game in the first half of the season, Meeks did not play due to coach’s decision in three of the following seven games. After scoring 10 points in the fourth quarter against the Raptors two games ago, the sharpshooter who has not been shooting very sharply this season has 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting including two three-pointers in 12 minutes against Indiana.
Capitalizing Off of Turnovers
In the first half, Indiana had 10 turnovers that Washington turned into a whopping 22 points. For the game, the Wizards cashed in 15 of the Pacers miscues for 30 points. The road team had 18 fast break points including 13 before intermission. When the three-point ball is not falling, as was the case tonight with Washington only shooting 28 percent (7-of-25) from deep, it is impressive to see them supplement their offense in different ways.
Next Game: Washington will play on their second leg of the back-to-back on Tuesday against the 76ers as the city of Philadelphia remains on their high from the Eagles Super Bowl win.