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Washington Wizards Three Takeaways: Wizards Fall Late To Indiana Pacers
Washington Wizards gained momentum after beating the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, but weren’t able to carry it to Indiana on Monday.
There were a few different times in the fourth quarter when this game felt sealed and I began writing the recap. But in true Washington Wizards form, the team hung around just long enough to make interesting, ultimately falling 107-105 on a game winning floater by Thaddeus Young with 0.9 seconds.
Bradley Beal, who struggled for parts of the game with foul trouble and inconsistency before catching fire late, missed a potential game winner at the buzzer after Coach Scott Brooks designed a creative play to free him up for a corner three.
The Wizards dropped to 12-15, snapping their three game win streak and extending their road woes to the tune of 2-9.
With two more games coming up against the Central Division (at Chicago on Wednesday and at Milwaukee on Friday), Washington should push to finish out this mini-road trip as strong as possible.
Here are the three key takeaways that stand out most in an exciting, at times sloppy, and overall disappointing result in Indianapolis.
PG: Still King of the Court
Beal’s development has been a really nice story in an otherwise trying season for Washington, but George taught him a lesson or two on what it means to be the marked man night after night.
Undoubtedly gassed from Sunday’s 41-point effort against the Los Angeles Clippers, Beal cooled off quickly after a hot start and didn’t really get it going till late in the fourth quarter (of which much credit goes to Paul George’s defense).
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Beal finished with 22 points but was just 7/19 from the field (including 3/11 from deep) and George’s long arms and larger frame clearly bothered the fifth-year swingman.
When Indy had the ball late, the mission was simple: get it to PG-13 and get out of the way.
George scored on basically anyone who was on him, continuing to extend the lead and nearly shutting the door on Washington’s comeback efforts.
The Wizards did a great job of getting the ball out of his hands on the final possession but Young slipped by Markieff Morris just enough to get a look at the basket.
Interior Defense a Problem
I won’t put this entirely on the bigs, as John Wall, Beal and Otto Porter have had their share of problems keeping perimeter players in front of them (Teague, Miles, and George combined for 60 points).
But at times, the Washington Wizards’ defense has clearly turned into a layup line.
Marcin Gortat struggles to get up with more athletic players and Morris isn’t always as plugged in as you’d like him to be.
While Gortat certainly succeeds at putting up the counting stats (20 and 11 on Monday), his inability to provide rim protection has hurt the team this season.
Before fouling out, Myles Turner used a combination of inside and outside moves on his way to 23 points and controlled the paint against a helpless defensive frontline.
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Here’s a random thought I had during the game: a player I’ve heard of named Ian Mahinmi might help but I don’t think the Wizards have the cap space to sign him outright.
It’s a Make or Miss League
Washington still struggles to get off threes In high volume, but on Monday they did and they missed nearly all of them.
The Wizards shot just 8 for 33 from deep, and a lot of those were good looks.
This game probably rested on the team not being able to knock down those shots but if you asked for the game to be replayed and those same shots taken, you’d have to feel good about their odds.
Beal has transitioned from being a mid-range artist to someone who’s clearly aware of the line.
Porter has taken it upon himself to be a floor stretcher and both players’ offseason work has paid off.
While the shots may not have fallen on Monday, the offense ran in such a way to produce those looks, which is the next best thing.
Washington will continue their road trip on Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls.
