Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal Continues March’s Triple-Double Flirtations in Sacramento Kings Win
Despite the Washington Wizards’ ups and downs, Bradley Beal near-triple-double production should not be overlooked.
Another game, another flirtation with a triple-double for Bradley Beal.
On Monday night, the Washington Wizards got the better of the Sacramento Kings at Capital One Arena, winning 121-115, to start off a five-game home stand on the right foot. Beal put up an impressive 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists in what is becoming just another day at the office for the All-Star.
After his impressive February, in which he averaged more than 30 points per game, it felt like there was little more to marvel at with Beal. He had cemented himself as one of the NBA’s premier scoring guards today.
But as Beal’s game continues to grow and expand, the last couple weeks have shown he can do more than put the ball in the hoop with the best of them. In March, he’s filling up the rest of the boxscore too.
Thus far, in six games this month, Beal is averaging 26.5 points, 8 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game. The only other player in the league putting up better numbers plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and is an all-time great: LeBron James.
This isn’t to say Beal was only focusing on scoring last month (he still averaged nearly 5 rebounds and 7 assists per game in February), but the consistent and increased production in the categories outside of points is noteworthy.
What has helped Beal balance out his game is the fact that the rest of the Wizards are helping him out on the offensive end. Throughout February, Beal was shouldering too much of the scoring burden, and as a result couldn’t afford to contribute more elsewhere on a regular basis. In Monday’s win against the Kings, six other Wizards scored in double figures, including 18 from Jabari Parker and 17 from both Bobby Portis and Tomas Satoransky.
As a result, Beal doesn’t have to conserve his energy for purely scoring. He can crash the boards, he can be a playmaker for his teammates, and he can expend effort defensively as well. In fact, because he’s having to do less as a scorer, he’s less reckless with the ball, and averaging a full turnover less per game in March than he was in February (2.5 compared to 3.7).
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With the rest of the team chipping in, Beal can do more elsewhere on the floor, and that bodes well for his future development, as well as the team’s future outlook as well.