Dylan Mitchell @oheyijust
After a 97-77 blowout loss in Minnesota, the Wizards lost heir fifth straight game, and have now lost ten of their last twelve games. This last loss game to a Minnesota team that is now last place in the Western Conference, and has only won 13 games on the season.
56 games through the season, the Timberwolves are allowing 105.8 points per game, so the Wizards only scoring 77 points on a defense as bad as it is in Minnesota is startling. I’m sure everybody expected a much better offensive performance in this game, but with Bradley Beal still out, it’s hard to know when shots from the outside are going to fall.
It could have been the lack of energy and intensity on the offensive end of the floor, but also only shooting 37.9% from the field and 22.2% from 3-point range is going to hurt. When Bradley Beal comes back, these numbers should begin to rise again as he will be able to spread the floor more, creating more opportunities for others.
No Wizard was able to carry the load offensively for the team, but there was a pretty balanced scoring attack from the team as a whole. Nene (12), Otto Porter (13), and Garrett Temple (11) were the only three Wizards to score in double figures, while there were eight other players to score. Additional points are going to be needed from the role players to get out of this funk, and for the Wizrads to be able to win a few games down the stretch.
The defense was on point, as expected, and was able to hold the Timberwolves to 97 points, which is right around their season average of 97.8 points per game. Holding this team under 100 should have given the Wizards an easy victory, so it is hard to put any blame on the defense after this contest.
The one statistic that has to stand out to everybody is the Wizards free throws in this game. They went 7/8, which is a great percentage, but the quantity of free throws should be much higher than only 8. Whenever you are a team that is unable to get easy points from the line, getting a win is going to be tough.
Friday at 7, the Wizards play in Philadelphia (12-45), which seems like it should be an easy win after they blew the 76ers out 111-76 the last time they played. The way the Wizards have played the last 12 games, I would not be suprised if they came out with no energy and lost to 76ers to make it 11 loses out of 13 games. I expect Randy Wittman to ignite a fire in the heart of the Wizards, and ensure they blow the 76ers out again. This game is a must win to get the Wizards back on track heading down the final stretch of the season.
