3 Washington Wizards who could be secret weapons in Orlando
By Ethan Smith
Secret Weapon: Garrison Mathews
One of the major reasons the Wizards offense has exploded this season: the three-ball.
Even with Bradley Beal on the roster, the Wizards weren’t a great three-point shooting team either of the last two seasons. In 2018, they ranked 23rd and 21st in three-point attempts and makes, respectively. In 2019, they were one of the league’s worst three-point shooting teams, making just 34.1 percent of them.
This season, they’re the third-best three-point shooting team, making over 37 percent from behind the arc.
Of course, Bertans immediately comes to mind as the catalyst for this improvement. But he’s not the only contributor. When healthy, Garrison Mathews has been able to light it up from deep, too.
As a two-way player, Mathews doesn’t get nearly as much run as many of his Wizards counterparts. However, he did get to show what he can do in late December and early January.
While seemingly the entire Wizards team was injured, Mathews averaged 22.5 minutes over a four games stretch, almost double the 12.5 minutes per game he’s averaging so far this season.
In those four games, Mathews averaged 15.75 points, scored in double figures thrice, and made 11 of his 22 three-point attempts.
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But Mathews didn’t get it done exclusively from deep. He also managed to get to the charity strip quite a bit. In his 28-point performance in a win against the Miami Heat on December 30, the first of this four-game streak, Mathews got to the line 13 times. The only Wizard with more free-throw attempts in a game this season is Beal.
Since Mathews hasn’t played a bunch this season (18 games), it’s tough to get a good read on him. For what it’s worth, his per 36 numbers from behind the three-point line (41.3 percent on 7.3 attempts) are better than fellow rookie Tyler Herro’s (39.1 percent on 7.1 attempts).
The Wizards bench unit has already been one of the most productive in the NBA. If they can find a way to incorporate Mathews – especially alongside Davis Bertans – then good luck to the rest of the NBA.