Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from 107-88 loss to the Houston Rockets
By Ethan Smith
I wonder if anybody in the Washington Wizards front office was rethinking that recent blockbuster trade after their loss to the Houston Rockets…
He did it again, folks. Bradley Beal has now opened the Washington Wizards season with 12 consecutive games of at least 25+ points. He’s the first to do it since Michael Jordan scored 25+ points in his first 16 games of the 1988-89 season. Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, and Jerry West are the only other players to open a season on such a streak. Unfortunately, it’s another record that doesn’t really mean anything because it came in another Wizards loss.
Bradley Beal is the 6th player in NBA history to score at least 25 points in each of his first 12 games of a season, joining Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Jerry West. pic.twitter.com/D2xDeyCAGf
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 27, 2021
The record that counts — the Wizards’ win/loss record — is still garbage. After falling on the road to the Houston Rockets, 107-88, the Washington Wizards are now 3-10. They are officially dead last in the Eastern Conference standings.
Still shorthanded with several players in COVID-19 health and safety protocol, the Wizards were able to keep things close vs. the Houston Rockets. Through three quarters, they trailed by five, 75-70. Then the fourth quarter arrived.
Fourth-quarter struggles aren’t new for this team. You can blame the Wizards’ late collapse on the short bench and recent 13-day layoff, but the Wizards were blowing it in the final frame before all that happened. And they did it again vs. Houston.
The Wizards were outscored by 14 points over the final 12 minutes and finished with their lowest point total of the season: 88. As the losses continue to pile up, the season continues to slip away, if it isn’t lost already.