Washington Wizards: Rapid Reactions to tonight’s loss against the Bulls

Fourth quarter notes & bullet points

The first few minutes of the fourth quarter were rather uneventful, with more of the same as Coby White took charge and the Wizards played uninspired offensive basketball sans Bradley Beal and nonexistent defense, the defensive part including Beal’s own lackluster effort.

Tomas Satoransky continued his good play against the Washington Wizards (he was averaging 18 points per game against them before this game, most against any team in the league for him) and reached a double double with 12 points and 11 assists with nine minutes left in this game. He would finish with 15 points and 13 assists, a solid line for Sato.

The game was still winnable, with the Wizards only trailing by 14 with eight and a half minutes remaining in this game. We desperately needed someone besides Beal to step up, and it seemed like Bertans was the one that was going to fill that void.

At the 7:40 mark, Beal took another beating. This time at the hands of Shaquille Harrison, and this one was still a basketball play, but with so much offensive burden on Bradley Beal I really think the Wizards are playing with fire here if there’s no intent on pushing guys hard now. And there shouldn’t be.

At this point, by the way, Moritz Wagner had managed just seven minutes in this game. Why?

Still, the Bulls are the Bulls and despite the big lead the Washington Wizards had cut the deficit to just nine points with seven minutes remaining, then Bertans got to the line and cut it to just seven. Then on the very next play, Zach LaVine scored and Bradley Beal committed his fifth foul of the game. Classic Wizards.

But Bradley Beal would not let up, keeping the Wizards in this one singlehandedly. Good thing we paid the man. Beal would end with a career-high 53 points on 15-for-27 shooting.

But Zach LaVine took the challenge personally and went on a mini flurry of his own with two hard jams to put some distance between the Wizards and the Bulls. And the Bulls continued to force the switch with Bertans, with guards taking advantage of the slow feet of the Latvian on the perimeter. The Wizards would not recover from this one.

Bradley Beal became one of just four visiting players to put up 50+ points in the United Center. Ridiculous. And his team still couldn’t put up a win. To be honest, I’d be kind of angry too.

End of 4th quarter score: 117-126

Post-game notes

• Coby White is a capable scorer and is growing in confidence. I’m expecting big things from him down the stretch of this season and beyond.
• The Washington Wizards really need to figure out something on defense. Whether it’s throwing in some traps or getting different players to DC that can give an effort on that end, it’s got to happen for us to be competitive.
• I’m probably not as high on Davis Bertans as most Wizards fans, but he really showed out in this game and was probably the second best player on offense. But I still think he’s a one-dimensional player and I’m not sure he’s the best option to start for us at the price he’ll be fetching in the offseason.
• Thaddeus Young can ball, and he plays hard as heck.
• Scott Brooks’ rotations are confusing, if our plan is to develop young talent. Play Moritz Wagner, for the love of goodness.
• Jerome Robinson did not play well in this one, unfortunately.
• Beal is still the man. But he’s going to need help.