After suffering back to back losses against the Lakers and Warriors, the Wizards finally found their magic and decimated the Sacramento Kings in a 110-83 win.
After choking two straight leads against the Lakers and Warriors, the Washington Wizards displayed phenomenal three-point shooting, had great bench production and played stellar defense against the Sacramento Kings, beating them 110-83. The Wizards jumped out to an early 21-4 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. John Wall led the way, scoring 19 points on 7-12 shooting while dishing out 9 assists and nailing four three-pointers in 26 minutes.
Assists and defense were keys to victory for the Wizards. With 28 assists the Wizards carved up the Kings defense. Every player was looking to make the extra pass to turn a good shot into a great shot. This unselfish display allowed them to convert on half of their threes.
Knocking down threes
You know the Wizards are in for a hot night when Wall hits his first four three-pointers. It’s obvious the Wizards won’t nail 17 of the 34 three-point shots they take, but it’s important that they stay confident when shooting the ball.
The amount of three-point shots the Wizards made against the Kings opened up many driving lanes for the Wizards. This, in turn, allowed the Wizards to convert on 47.1% of their overall shots. Their stifling D also held the Kings to 39% shooting and 27.3% from 3. Even though John Wall wasn’t out for blood in this game, it was nice to see him shut Fox down to 2 points on 1-8 shooting after letting Lonzo Ball and the Lakers get the best of the Wizards in their previous matchup.
Mike Scott had a great night
Mike Scott did a great job covering Jason Smith‘s rough shooting night (1-7 from the field and 1-4 from 3). He came in at the end of the first quarter and completely dominated—scoring 11 points and grabbing three rebounds. He ended the game with 13 points and 4 rebounds and had a +18 off the bench. The bench played well, but they will definitely need to improve as the season continues. Fortunately, with Markieff Morris coming back, a lot of the lingering issues the Wizards seem to currently have could and should be solved.
The Polish Machine
For the last five years, Marcin Gortat has been an extremely valuable asset to the Wizards. His leadership, experience, and hard work are unparalleled. The problem lies in his inability to be as effective as he can be under the current Wizards system. There have been multiple occasions where Gortat has simply looked outmatched against the younger more versatile bigs in the league.
At age 33, Gortat isn’t getting any younger and it looks as if it would be better for the Wizards to split and pursue younger assets such as Jahlil Okafor from the 76ers (21 years old), and/or Nikola Mirotic from the Bulls (26 years old). Both players have expressed discontent with their current situation and maybe a change of scenery can help both sides.
The Wizards played a great game against the Kings. Regardless of how well they played though, there is always room for improvement. Wizards must continue to maintain the same defensive intensity for all 48 minutes. They also need to do a better job in converting their free throws—going 13-20 tonight. Regardless, a blowout like this was definitely needed. Below are highlights from the game.
On Wednesday, the Wizards return home to play the Phoenix Suns.