The Washington Wizards put in another solid defensive performance in their win against the Atlanta Hawks. If the Wizards don’t let up on defense, they can punch their ticket for the Eastern Conference Finals.
On Saturday, the Washington Wizards continued their homestand welcoming the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks entered the game last in the Eastern Conference with a 2-10 record. It’s now 2-11 after the Wizards beat them soundly, 113-94.
This is a much different Hawks’ team than the one the Wizards knocked off in the playoffs last season. Some of their most notable players have spread their wings—Dwight Howard is now with Charlotte, Paul Millsap‘s in Denver, and Tim Hardaway, Jr. is with the Knicks. While Mike Scott now calls Washington home.
Regardless of Atlanta’s record—the Wizards lost to the Dallas Mavericks, who were last in their conference—the Wizards didn’t take anything for granted.
Before the game, Coach Scott Brooks remarked:
"“John Wall started off the season not shooting well – missing shots, layups and free throws. Although he went 7-for-7 from the free throw line (in their win against the Lakers). Every player goes through a shooting slump. He has no problem with Wall’s threes, but he’d like to see him make more of them.”"
Regarding Tim Frazier, Brooks added, “as a point guard you have to know where your teammate wants the ball. But he’s getting more comfortable each and every game.”
Brooks likes Frazier’s “competitiveness”, and that he “doesn’t give up because of his size and weight”.
This is the second consecutive win for Washington, and also the second consecutive game where they played defense.
Offensively, Washington can make their shots. However, on the defensive end, the team has come together to stop other teams from making theirs.
Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Wizards had reported earlier, that Wall was questionable for the game due to illness. He was later upgraded to probable, and ended up playing.
After the game, Wall said, that he was very sick, and came to the arena earlier in a ski mask. He was battling a cold and his migraines had returned. He was unable to warm up before the game, and had to get two IVs for some energy.
Wall held Dennis Schroder, who is known for driving the lanes and getting easy layups, to 7 points.
Regarding his improved defense, Wall found that being challenged by Kobe Bryant helped. However, he had already challenged himself. In addition, Brooks always reminds him, that he could be a better player and a better defender.
Wall’s shooting slump, especially from the free throw line, appears to be over. Besides getting a few And-ones, he made 5 of his 6 free throws. He ended the game with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. This was also another game where the best blocking guard in the NBA had two blocks. A sick John Wall is still a great John Wall.
Whether they have turned around on the defensive end, Wall believes that they did this before last season. Whereas for five or six games they play great defense, and then their problems start up again. However, if they’re able to stick to their basics and their concepts, holding teams to a 100, he likes their chances against everyone. But, they have a problem when they try to have shootouts with teams.
The Wizards have held their opponents to under 100 pts in two straight games. They did that three times all last year and never pushed it to three games. Last time was 2015.
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) November 12, 2017
Kelly Oubre, Jr. has been playing very well to start the season. According to Wall,
"Oubre’s “being smart by not letting his offense dictate his defense. He’s able to get open shots, running the floor with us in transition, and he’s getting to the free throw line”."
Oubre was doing it all against the Hawks—dunking, knocking down long twos, and rebounding. The small forward is playing with a higher level of confidence than last season.
Against the Hawks, he was playing bang-bang basketball down low, and crashing the boards on both the offensive and defensive ends. Oubre provided Washington with solid rim protection with 7 rebounds.
He finished the game with 18 points in 23 minutes, and made 8 of his 9 free throws.
Markieff Morris, who’s still on a minutes restriction, ended up playing 20 minutes. Brooks only planned on playing him 24 minutes, but with their lead it worked out perfectly, offering Keef the ability to sit out the remainder of the game.
Nonetheless, Keef in 20 minutes of play had 18 points, including knocking down two 3-pointers and 4 rebounds. After the Laker’s win, this marks another strong performance by the power forward. He’s definitely the piece that the Wizards have been missing this season.
Keef also emphasized, that “playing team defense has to be their identity.”
He believes, the Wizards have found some momentum offensively. However, he’s “not taking credit away from the Lakers and the Hawks, but they aren’t the best offensive teams. Once we get to those good teams then we’ll be able to measure where we are”.
Bradley Beal, who is known for his three-point shooting, is attacking the basket this season. According to Beal, he doesn’t want to be a one-dimensional player. During the offseason, he worked on his ball-handling skills, so he’s able to drive to the basket more and draw contact. He wants to get to the free throw line more often.
The sharpshooter made three of his four free throws, and ended the game with 19 points in 28 minutes. Beal put in another All-Star worthy performance, which included two 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Because of the sizable lead that the starters had built up, their bench was able to take over the game in the third quarter. Both Tomas Satoransky and Chris McCullough were able to get quality minutes. Wall said, when the “bench does well, it makes our game easier”.
Since the Wizards blew out the Hawks, it allowed the all-bench lineup to spend more time together on the floor and get familiar with each other’s style of play.
Frazier did a good job of running the second unit, he had 4 points, 5 assists and 2 steals. While Ian Mahinmi had a better showing this time out. He was perfect from the field, 2-for-2, and made two of his three free throws. He ended the game with 6 points.
Mike Scott also had a solid game with 10 points and 5 rebounds.
The Wizards still need a little work on their perimeter defense. Taurean Prince went 4-for-6 from the three. Off the bench, Malcolm Delaney went 3-for-4 from downtown, while Marco Belinelli went 4-fo-7.
Washington has figured out what they need to do defensively, and put it into practice. They have taken flight and hopefully they stay there, by not letting a lack of defense bring them crashing down.
The Wizards were in a defensive-holding pattern to start the season, but they’re back on course towards the Eastern Conference Finals.