Washington Wizards: Rapid Reactions to tonight’s win against the Bulls
By Keith Cork
First quarter notes
To call the initial quarter sluggish would be kind, but the energy just wasn’t there for either team. The Wizards were lucky that the Bulls were missing open shots, because the points were there for the taking.
A lot of hoopla was made about the matchup between the two shooting guards, Zach LaVine and Bradley Beal, and neither one really started all that hot, with LaVine posting just 7 points and Beal posting 5 points on the quarter.
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Zero defense at the basket was played by either team, resulting in a ton of back cuts and dunks or layups directly at the rim. As a result, the Washington Wizards shot 57.7 percent from the field in the initial quarter. Luckily the Bulls are garbage and managed to shoot under 40 percent from the field, despite the open looks.
Rui Hachimura took charge on offense, touching it nearly every possession in the first two and a half minutes and winding up being the Wizards’ leading scorer in the quarter on 3-for-4 shooting. He looked really good out there, confident and making smart decisions with the ball.
Chandler Hutchison on the other side of the floor was taking charge, but missed a lot of open shots. Coby White closed the quarter out with a minor flurry.
Davis Bertans closed out the quarter with some lights out shooting, knocking down two-of-four wide open three-point shots to finish the first quarter strong. Jerome Robinson and Shabazz Napier got in on the fun too, each contributing a three to the effort.