Washington Wizards Three Takeaways: Wizards' 17 Year Long Losing Streak In San Antonio Continues
Washington Wizards haven’t beaten the San Antonio Spurs away from home since 1999 and their long losing streak continued on Friday night.
The last time the Washington Wizards beat the San Antonio Spurs on the road, Kelly Oubre was 4-years-old.
On Friday night, the Wizards had an opportunity to end the 17-year long losing streak, but came up short, 107-105.
Kawhi Leonard hit a clutch shot with seconds remaining to put the Spurs up by two and Otto Porter missed a game-tying floater as time expired.
There were positive takeaways, but the Wizards have fallen to 6-12.
At this point, moral victories are meaningless.
The backcourt showed up again
John Wall finished the game with 17 points and 15 assists on 8 of 16 shooting from the field.
Lately, Wall has put an emphasis on scoring the ball, and although he’s capable of doing so, he’ll always be at his best when he’s getting his teammates involved.
Marcin Gortat, in particular, benefited from Wall’s passing.
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The Polish Machine scored 21 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
Wall and Gortat connected on numerous pick-and-roll plays, including two late in the game to cut the Spurs’ lead to a manageable amount.
Bradley Beal added 23 points, making 7 of his 11 attempts. He knocked down all 5 of his shots from deep.
Both Wall and Beal made clutch baskets, with Beal hitting a three to put the Wizards up by one and Wall making a layup in traffic to tie the game at 105.
The team’s star backcourt is playing the best basketball of their careers, yet the Wizards still can’t win.
That’s a problem.
Brooks has run out of options
Scott Brooks doesn’t have much to work with on the second unit and has tried every lineup possible. He swapped Trey Burke for Tomas Satoransky, the Wizards lost games, and he made the switch again on Friday.
The second unit lacks talent. Brooks can’t make something out of nothing.
Marcus Thornton made just 2 of his 7 attempts. Burke scored 2 points on 4 shot attempts.
It’s getting really sad for the bench. It’s time to swap out the veterans for the rookies. Daniel Ochefu and Sheldon McClellan couldn’t possibly be any worse than Jason Smith and Thornton.
Late-game offense is still an issue
Brooks was criticized for the way he managed his teams late in games in the past. This season, the Washington Wizards have looked confused with games on the line, often running isolation plays that lead to nothing.
Even though both Wall and Beal made clutch baskets, Brooks ran a play for Otto Porter to tie the game. It’s the final possession. The final shot of the game needs to go to Wall or Beal. There is no way around that.
On Monday, Washington will take on the Brooklyn Nets for the first time this season.
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