Washington Wizards Three Takeaways: Wizards Remain Uncommitted Defensively, Fall to Mavericks at Home
By Ben Mehic
Washington Wizards were coming off a disappointing loss in Minnesota, but remained uncommitted defensively against the Dallas Mavericks at home.
True championship contenders play consistently against every team in the NBA, not just the ones that are also considered competitive.
For some reason, the Washington Wizards have come out flat against lesser opponents since the All-Star break. They came back from double-digits three times on their recent road trip, but none of their wins were particularly inspiring.
Instead of putting the lottery-bound teams away early and allowing the starters to rest, the Wizards have been lackadaisical, allowing teams to average over 120 points per game on their five-game road trip.
On Wednesday night, the Wizards returned home to face the 28-38 Dallas Mavericks in a game that should’ve been a blowout.
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With Dorian Finney-Smith and Yogi Ferrell as their starters, the Mavericks are in the middle of rebuilding their roster amid Dirk Nowitzki‘s final stretch with the franchise.
Washington, again, looked uninspired and uncommitted defensively. They blew another double-digit lead and put themselves in another hole in the fourth quarter.
This time, though, they weren’t able to dig themselves out, 112-107.
Lazy defense strikes again
Washington has the personnel to switch on defense.
John Wall and Bradley Beal can defend both guard spots, while Otto Porter is long enough to defend most fours. Markieff Morris, for the most part, does a solid job of staying up defensively when a switch occurs and he’s stuck on a guard.
But that doesn’t mean the Washington Wizards should switch.
From the get go, the Wizards began switching everything, willingly giving the Mavericks mismatches. In the fourth quarter, Morris switched off Nowitzki and the Hall-of-Famer sunk a shot in the post over Wall, whom he was switched on.
Then, Nowitzki hit a game-sealing 3-point shot.
Switching should be a last resort, not something a team actively looks for. It’s lazy and the Wizards paid for it at home, just like they did on the road.
The ball isn’t moving, either
Not only are the Washington Wizards playing lazy defense, but they’re not moving the ball on the other end. This problem included everybody on Wednesday night, even Wall, who registered 11 assists.
The ball stuck in Wall and Beal’s hands, and the offense became stagnant.
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At first, the Wizards looked for Marcin Gortat on pick-and-rolls and lobs. Then, for some reason, the ball just stopped moving.
Washington doesn’t have a Kevin Durant on their roster. They don’t have the ability to score on isolation plays every time up the court.
It’s almost as if the team’s best players try to take advantage of the weaker opposition, just to prove a point.
Wall drove the ball inside with no direction multiple times in the fourth quarter, turning it over.
As the team’s leader, Wall needs to settle down, pace himself and play within the flow of the offense. On Wednesday, he failed to do that.
Another random gets buckets in D.C.
Washington has built a reputation of letting no-named players have the games of their lives.
Nicolas Brussino benefited from Washington’s poor defense, scoring 11 points on 4-5 shooting off the bench. He made 3 of his 4 attempted 3-point shots. Brussino averages less than 2 points per game.
If the Wizards were committed defensively, Brussino wouldn’t have gotten much playing time and certainly wouldn’t have played the best basketball of his career in D.C.
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Washington will look for redemption at home on Friday night against the Chicago Bulls.