National Basketball Association

Washington Wizards Three Takeaways: Wizards Fall Apart In Orlando, Drop To 1-4

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Washington Wizards gained a double-digit lead against the Orlando Magic on Saturday night, but fell apart in the fourth quarter.

With a new head coach and a revamped bench, the Washington Wizards were supposed to be different in the 2016-17 NBA season. But so far, their problems have remained the same.

Washington has struggled to close out games, losing to both the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors down the stretch.

On Friday night, the Wizards got their first win of the season, defeating the Atlanta Hawks at home. They took a trip down to Florida that night to take on the Orlando Magic on Saturday, hoping to get a back-to-back win.

John Wall, who won’t play back-to-back games as a part of his rehab, wasn’t available, but the Wizards still looked competitive. Washington gained a double-digit lead against the Magic and appeared to have the game in their pocket.

Then, things started to implode, just as they have in the past.

Washington failed to score in the fourth quarter and the Magic gained momentum with Jeff Green leading the way. The Wizards’ lead disappeared, but they still had an opportunity to tie or win the game with about a second left.

Markieff Morris missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer and the Magic came out with a win, 88-86.

Scott Brooks‘ team has now fallen to 1-4 and will take on the Houston Rockets on Monday.

Beal’s invisible performance

With Wall out, you’d think that Bradley Beal, who’s perceived to be the Washington Wizards’ second best player, would increase his production. He was largely invisible up until the fourth quarter, where he scored five straight points.

Beal finished the game with 15 points on 17 shot attempts. That’s not exactly efficient.

More from Wiz of Awes

He picked up five fouls and never found a rhythm.

These are the sort of performances that are alarming.

It’s still too early to panic, but Beal hasn’t shown many signs of actual growth so far this season.

Sure, he’s improved his handle and has made an effort to attack the basket more, but he’s yet to put it all together.

His 3-point shot has never looked worse, either. That’s supposed to be his fallback option.

When nothing else is working, he should still be reliable from deep. He’s been anything but reliable.

Gortat’s mishaps

Marcin Gortat had a nightmarish sequence to end the game – missing two free throws down the stretch and multiple bunnies around the rim, including a put-back layup to cut Orlando’s lead to one.

He made just 3 of his 10 shot attempts and continued to look a step slower than he was last year. Perhaps age is finally catching up to Gortat, who’s never relied on his athleticism nor leaping ability.

Ian Mahinmi, who the Washington Wizards signed to a $64 million deal this off-season, hasn’t been available and there haven’t been many updates on his situation.

Satoransky makes his starting debut

Ramon Sessions has been missed in D.C. and the Washington Wizards haven’t been able to replace his scoring off the bench. Tomas Satoransky made his debut in the starting lineup in place of Wall and played relatively well.

Satoransky made 4 of his 7 shot attempts. He’s done a solid job of regulating the offense, getting loose balls and defending. It would be nice if the Wizards could get some more scoring from him, though, especially from the perimeter. For some reason, he’s seemed hesitant to shoot the ball from outside the paint.

This article originally appeared on