Can the Washington Wizards bounce back after losing their opening game of the season? Here are three things to watch for as they take on the Orlando Magic!
The Washington Wizards suffered a tough road loss in the first game of the season. Washington lost 113-107 to the Philadelphia 76ers in a hard-fought game. Even though they didn’t come out with the win, there were still some positives to take away from game one. First and foremost, Bradley Beal looks like he’s already in rare form. He dropped a game-high 31 points to go along with two rebounds, three assists, and four steals. His effort on the defensive end was constant all night, as he’s out to prove his poor performance on defense last year was just an aberration.
Bradley Beal’s new running mate, Russell Westbrook, played fairly well in the loss also. Westbrook became the 1st player in Wizards franchise history to record a triple-double in his debut. He finished the game with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 15 assists but he was 9-22 from the field and 0-3 from three. Even though he had an off-shooting night, Westbrook’s fingerprints were still all over the game. His impact already has the Wizards competing at a higher level, and that’s what they’ll need to contend in the East.
Now, the Wizards are heading back to the nation’s capital to face the Orlando Magic in back-to-back games. Last year, the Magic had their number as they won all four matchups by an average of 16.5 points. Orlando won their first game this season 113-107 over the Heat, last season’s Eastern Conference champions. It’s clear the Magic is still a strong team this season. This will be a nice, early test for the Wizards as they look to bounce back from the loss against the Sixers.
Here are three things to watch when the Orlando Magic come to town to face off against the Washington Wizards!
No. 3- Who else steps up off the bench other than Davis Bertans?
Davis Bertans is without question the most consistent player off the Wizards bench. Last year, he led Washington in bench points averaging 15.4 points per game. In the first game of the season against the Sixers, he once again led the Wizards bench in scoring, finishing the game with 14 points and three rebounds. Bertans started the game cold, missing on his first two three-point attempts. However, he connected on his last four attempts and finished the game 4-6 from behind the arc.
He was the lone bright spot on the Wizards bench as no one else finished with more than eight points. Mo Wagner was the only non-starter to finish with a positive net rating but he only played 6 minutes, which was the least of any bench player. Ish Smith, Troy Brown Jr., and Robin Lopez all played more than 15 minutes off the bench against the Sixers. The three of them finished with a -21, -23, and -16 net rating, respectively. That’s just not going to cut it!
The Washington Wizards need more production out of their second unit to have any chance of contending in the Eastern Conference. Last year, the Wizards bench ranked second in terms of points scored per game. Robin Lopez, Raul Neto, and Anthony Gill are the only new additions to the reserves so the continuity should still be there. Washington is hoping that their first game against the Sixers is just an outlier, and the bench will be better moving forward as they continue to get acclimated to one another.
No. 2 – Can the Washington Wizards slow down Nikola Vucevic?
The Washington Wizards face another daunting task with big-man Nikola Vucevic coming to town. Last season, he tortured Washington from almost every area on the court. In his three matchups against the Wizards, Vucevic averaged 26.3 points and 12.7 rebounds. He shot a blistering 50.0 percent from behind the arc on 5.3 attempts per game and 57.4 percent from the field overall. Washington had fits trying to slow down Vucevic because of his ability to not only stretch the floor (34 percent from three last year) but also score on the block with his amazing footwork.
Though not as physically dominant, he presents a lot of the same problems that Joel Embiid did in game one. The Wizards struggled mightily to contain Embiid in the first game. In the Wizard’s 113-107 loss to the Sixers, Embiid finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in 35 minutes of play. His presence down low played a big factor down the stretch as he scored 15 of his 29 points in the last 12 minutes to help lead Philly to the comeback win. The two-time All-NBA and All-Defensive team player has a little more in his arsenal than Vucevic, but they’re both still All-Star centers in this league; therefore, they deserve the utmost respect.
Washington must make it a point of emphasis to limit Vucevic as much as possible and force the other players on the Magic to beat them. Thomas Bryant will start off the game defending Vucevic, but it’ll be a collective effort keeping him in check. Bryant has grown as a defender but he’s far from elite on that end of the floor, so he’ll need as much help as possible. The Wizards have to show Vucevic different looks throughout the game to prevent him from getting comfortable early. Traps and double teams in the post are a great strategy to get the ball out of his hands, and something we saw the Wizards do vs. Embiid. The fewer touches Vucevic gets, the better chance the Wizards have of coming out victorious.
No. 1 – Who will Scott Brooks trust down the stretch?
With a shortened training camp and preseason, Scott Brooks is trying to figure out his most effective lineups on the fly. It’s still early in the season, but the Wizards will be shorthanded this weekend when they face the Orlando Magic two nights in a row. Rui Hachimura, Cassius Winston, and Garrison Mathews are all out due to injury. Russell Westbrook may sit out the second half of the back-to-back so his status for Sunday’s game is still up in the air. Regardless, Brooks won’t have all 15 of his players available on either night, so it’ll be important to find a unit that works well together.
The Washington Wizards have only played one game, but their starting five (even without Hachimura) looked really good against the Sixers. Russell Westbrook (+10), Bradley Beal (+6), Deni Avdija (+14), Thomas Bryant (+2), and Isaac Bonga (+7) all finished with a positive net rating. None of these players played a perfect game by any means but none of them lost the opening game for the Wizards. It was the other units that weren’t effective.
In particular, the closing lineups that Scott Brooks went with at the end of the game didn’t necessarily work. The Wizards had a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter but were outscored 40-24 in the final frame. That’s completely unacceptable! The Wizards held the Sixers to 30 points or less in the first 3 quarters, so to give up 40 points in the fourth is terrible! Washington has high expectations this year so it’s important they close out these types of games against top teams in the East. According to Scott Brooks, “This year, there are no moral victories. We have to come out and keep competing.” The Wizards need to show this year is different and they can start this weekend against the Orlando Magic.