Washington Wizards Three Takeaways: Wizards Hold Own But LeBron and Co. End The Magical Run In Game Of The Year

The Big Three?

Much is always made of Cleveland’s big three, and rightly so. LeBron and Kyrie helped lead the team back from down 3-1 in the NBA Finals last year while Love will join the duo in New Orleans next weekend for the All-Star game.  

It seems since Dallas won the championship in 2011, you must have a big three to be a contender in the NBA.  With Washington wanting to be a legitimate championship contender, they’ll certainly need to see a “big three” develop.  

So far, the team has seen solid production from all 5 players in the starting lineup, as they lead the league in games with all five starters over 10 points.

But to continue improving, and make “the leap” Wall, Beal, and Porter have to play like the team’s big three.  

They certainly showed the possibilities in this one.  

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While Wall ran the offense early, Porter and Beal shot the ball extremely well.  

Beal mixed in some nice drives to go along with his great shooting.  

Porter showed a national audience why he’s currently the best 3-point shooter in the league, by hitting 5 of 7 threes.  

Beal made 6 of his 14 threes.

Porter came into the game averaging 14 points per game and 46 percent shooting from three.  

Matched up against LeBron James most of the night, he got open running off screens and drifting into the corners.

Beal did a great job attacking the Cavs defense all night.  

When matched up with Kyrie Irving, he routinely drove and was able to use crossovers and stepbacks to free himself for jump shots when covered by Iman Shumpert.  

On one such possession, Beal crossed up Shumpert who fell and had to leave the game with a sprained ankle.  He did step on Kevin Love’s foot but that’s besides the point.

Part of the reason the team has become much harder to guard is Beal’s emergence as a playmaker.  Beal had 8 assists in this game, many coming in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Looking at the box score it would seem Wall struggled with his shot (8-19), but most of his misses came around the rim when seeking contact.  Additionally, Wall made six of six from the free throw line, including the two right before LeBron’s three.

The game had playoff intensity throughout, and it seemed that the refs officiated it like one as well. Despite plenty of contact throughout, there were many obvious calls missed on both sides.

Wall ended up with 22 points, Porter had 25 points, and Beal had 41, for a total of 88 points. Washington’s next game gets a little easier with a visit to Brooklyn to face the league worst Nets on Wednesday.