Wizards Win the Rebounding Battle
After the Brooklyn Nets completely cleaned the glass against the Wizards in Friday’s loss, it was clear that Washington had to remedy their rebounding woes. With the Wizards undersized and undermanned down low, it appeared the Lakers would pose another challenge going up against two seven-footers in JaVale McGee and Tyson Chandler, not to mention the stat-stuffing James.
To their credit though, the Wizards answered the call, out-rebounding the Lakers 51 to 43. On the offensive glass, the Wizards grabbed 15 boards to the Lakers’ 8.
Given that Morris hardly played due to injury, that left Thomas Bryant as the only Wizards big man to see playing time on Sunday, who totaled 11 rebounds in 28 minutes. But it was Beal’s dominance on the boards that made the difference, grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds, including 5 offensive rebounds.
It’s become quite apparent in recent weeks that Scott Brooks is going to avoid playing Ian Mahinmi as much as he can help it. If Mahinmi isn’t going to see the floor in a game like Sunday’s, then it’s hard to see him getting consideration any other time. Regardless, the Wizards need to make rebounding a team effort moving forward in order to create scoring opportunities for themselves and limit their opponents’ second-chance points.