The Washington Wizards are now 4-3 after dropping their first home game of the early season. All three losses have come as a result of surrendering double-digit leads, a habit the team needs to kick if they want to contend for a championship.
It happened again. The Washington Wizards were supposed to take care of business against the fumbling Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. Instead, they blew a 22-point lead and eventually lost 122-116.
All of the team’s losses have had a familiarly foul smell:
Wizards get a big lead. Wizards slowly let the lead slip. Wizards fight back, but fall short.
PHEW.
A frustrated Bradley Beal spoke to reporters after Wednesday’s loss and gave everyone a peek into the team’s mentality.
Not all soundbites are created equal. Some are grossly overstated. Others aren’t nuanced enough.
Beal’s short comments were both appropriate and telling. He scored a season-high 40 points, but that doesn’t absolve the five-year veteran from blame.
Granted, Washington was down two starters as Otto Porter unexpectedly missed the game with the flu. While Markieff Morris was forced to sit due to a one-game suspension. Those absences still don’t excuse a loss to a team fresh off the firing of their head coach, and playing without their disgruntled starting point guard.
The Wizards boast one of the most talented and complete rosters in all of basketball. But talent won’t win championships, especially if you aren’t respecting your opponents enough to compete hard for a full 48 minutes.
On Wednesday night, the team was handling the Suns on both sides of the floor and took a convincing 32-15 lead after one. Behind T.J. Warren‘s career-high 40, Phoenix would outscore Washington each of the next three quarters, including a 70-52 advantage in the second half.
Beal is letting that mentality seep into the locker room, even if he isn’t taking other teams for granted. He and fellow backcourt star John Wall have to lead by example and bury teams when they gain an advantage, if they want to be taken seriously by other contenders in this league.
Speaking of contenders, Friday night presents a perfect opportunity as Washington hosts LeBron James and the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers (3-5). The defending Eastern Conference champs are in disarray. They’ve lost four-straight games, while allowing teams to score at an alarming rate.
Cleveland’s currently ranked second to last in defensive rating, according to NBA.com stats. Their biggest bug-a-boo defensively has been an inability to stop ball screens. To make matters worse, Tristian Thompson, the teams’ best ball-screen defending big, is reportedly out for a month. He suffered an injury in Wednesday night’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Washington’s guards use the pick-and-roll effectively, especially Beal. He scores just under eight points per game using ball screens, which is eighth in the NBA. He and Wall should torch Cleveland early and often.
Factor in a healthy Wizards squad, who is expecting to get Morris back into the starting lineup, and all things point to an early statement game for the home team in front of a national audience.
That’s if , of course, Beal and company respect their opponents and avoid a “cake walk” mentality.