Washington Wizards 2017 NBA Playoffs Mailbag: How the Wizards Could Continue Dominating the Atlanta Hawks

Great question, Frankie. You’re in luck. Blaise Malley just wrote a long piece on how Scott Brooks should manage the Washington Wizards’ rotation going forward in the playoffs.

John Wall played 37 minutes and Bradley Beal played 39. Kelly Oubre led all reserves with 19 minutes. A few weeks ago, we were wondering whether Oubre would even be in Brooks’ lineup come playoff time and now he’s getting the most run.

Minutes-wise, Brooks has done a solid job of making sure his players aren’t getting ran into the ground. The starters rested before the beginning of the playoffs and the coaching staff has been monitoring fatigue throughout the entire regular season, including practices.

On the rotation front, as Blaise pointed out, Brooks needs to make sure that either Wall or Beal are on the court at all times.

Washington got away with running their offense through Brandon Jennings and Bojan Bogdanovic during the regular season, but they can’t afford to do that in the playoffs.

Bogdanovic relied on cheap contact to score points, but the referees officiate the game differently in the playoffs, which eliminates some of his productivity. Also, the ball tends to stick in Bogdanovic’s hands when he gets it. In the playoffs, the Washington Wizards need the ball to move.

Wall and Beal are obviously better at initiating offense than any reserve in D.C. The defensive aspect of the game is highlighted more, too, which is why Oubre was the team’s sixth man in Game-1.

We’ll likely see more of Oubre in the playoffs than Bogdanovic. Expect Wall and Beal to have their minutes stunted as well.