The Wizards never had any control of the game as they lost 99-91 at home to the Houston Rockets. For the entirety of the game, the Rockets controlled the tempo, and were getting any shot they wanted. On the other hand, the Wizards were only able to play based on what was being done by the Rockets.
Surprisingly, the Wizards were able to contain both James Harden and Dwight Howard. The pair combined for 35 points, with 24 of those coming from Harden, and 11 of those coming from Howard. Being able to contain both Harden and Howard was what the Wizards needed to even be in this game and have an opportunity to get a win.
John Wall led the Wizards and kept them in the game with his 25 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. Bradley Beal and also Porter each scored 15 points. The guards were not the problem in this one, as the bulk of the production was done by them.
Remember last year when Nene called out the Wizards backcourt for being the reason why the Wizards were having struggles? Well it’s about time the backcourt calls out the frontcourt for their performances as of late, or the Wizards will be making an early exit in the playoffs. The frontcourt has been doing its part, but it seems that part of the backcourt is not meeting expectations every time.
Nene was the light bright spot for the frontcourt as he scored 10 points, and grabbed 7 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Gortat did not play as the 60 million dollar man he was paid to be in his performance that included scoring 6 points, and grabbing 10 rebounds. Even though his performance was poor, Gortat played better than one man on the Wizards.
That man is Paul Pierce. Pierce has been clutch this season for the Wizards, and he will for sure be able to rebound from this poor performance, but there is no excuse for him to only score 2 points. He went 1/6 from the field, and he should have gotten more than just 6 shots, but he needs to assert himself and get in a groove to do what he is being paid to do, which is to guide the young guns far into the playoffs.
One positive that can be taken away from this game is that they only lost by 8 to a team that is far better than them. However, the Wizards are going to need to be able to beat teams of this caliber if they want to compete for a championship. Once the backcourt and frontcourt decide to show up on the same nights, the Wizards may turn into the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
