Washington Wizards crash back to reality in 125-111 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies

Remember when the Washington Wizards had that winning streak going? Sigh. Good times.

The last few weeks have been very good to the Washington Wizards. Although their last game of February was a loss to the Boston Celtics, it was “some of the goofiest s—” that Bradley Beal had ever seen, and almost forgivable, although incredibly frustrating. All in all, February was a great month for the Wizards. That all changed when the calendars flipped to March and the Memphis Grizzlies came to town.

Despite a hot start, the Wizards faded fast in this one as the Grizzlies, who lead the NBA in steals and points off turnovers, suffocated the Wizards’ offense. Led by Russell Westbrook, the Washington Wizards finished with 22 total turnovers. And the Grizzlies made them pay for all of them.

The Grizzlies turned the Wizards’ carelessness into 32 points. The Wizards, on the other hand, only forced 11 turnovers which they turned into a mere 15 points for themselves. Ultimately, the Grizzlies’ ability to disrupt the Wizards’ offensive flow and turn that into easy offense of their own on the other end was the difference in this one. It makes you wonder if the Wizards wouldn’t benefit from some more creative movement on offense than just a bunch of dribble handoffs for Beal or Westbrook trying to drive and improvise. The Grizzlies had answers for the few things the Wizards were showing them. In response, the Wizards had nothing.

The Washington Wizards had no answers for the Memphis Grizzlies in 125-11 drubbing.

After reeling off seven wins in eight games, the Wizards have crashed back to earth during their last pair of contests. Two games, two losses, and just like that, the Wizards are back to 13th in the Eastern Conference with a winning percentage on the wrong side of .400. And if you want to lay the blame on one person, put it on Westbrook.

Westbrook has recently looked much better, now over a month removed from declaring himself fully healthy. Against Memphis, however, Westbrook was quite literally giving the game away. Despite 23 points and 15 assists, Westbrook’s eight turnovers were his most noteworthy stat of the night. That included a four-turnover run during a short two-and-a-half-minute span in the second quarter. Westbrook finished the first half with a career-high seven turnovers, and the Wizards trailed by 15.

Bradley Beal finished with game 23 points, his second-lowest point total this season. It’s a testament to Beal’s incredible play through the first half of the season that 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists feel like Memphis held him in check. They also forced him to commit six turnovers and shoot 25 percent from beyond the arc, though, and Beal finished with a -25 plus-minus for the game. The Grizzlies may not have stopped him completely, but it wasn’t a good night for the NBA’s leading scorer. You can tell they were prepared.

Hopefully, the Wizards haven’t mentally gone into All-Star Break mode already, although it looked like that may have been the case vs. Memphis. They still have one more game before getting nearly a week off, and it’s vs. the LA Clippers, a team that beat them by 19 points on February 23. And as Beal recently said, they haven’t done anything yet. Can’t lose focus now.