Washington Wizards: 3 Wizards that need to step up with Davis Bertans out

Garrison Mathews

Garrison Mathews is shooting 40.2 percent on 3.5 attempts per game. Despite his recent success, Bertans’ early-season struggles still hold his overall average down. As a result, Mathews technically has the best shooting percentage among active Wizards who have played at least 10 games this season. He and Bertans are the only Wizards players shooting above 37 percent from three (minimum 10 games played). Mathews will need to raise his game even higher now that one of the NBA’s worst three-point shooting teams will be without one of their best three-point shooting weapons.

The Wizards, who collectively are a poor three-point shooting team, will need more from Mathews now that the team’s biggest beyond-the-arc threat will be out for a few games. This season, the Wizards rank 24th in three-pointers made per game (11) and 28th in three-point shooting percentage (34.4). Remove Bertans’ contributions to the team, and they’re almost certainly among the worst team in every major three-point category.

Unfortunately, the Wizards don’t have another underused sharpshooter stashed away on the bench that they can use in a pinch like this. Either Mathews carries the shooting, or the team will sink from outside. Don’t expect one of the other wings to suddenly get hot. They’ve proven time and time again that they can’t be consistently trusted from out there.