Washington Wizards: 3 Keys to Wednesdays early season game against the Chicago Bulls

Tonight, the 10 seed Washington Wizards head to the windy city to visit the 12 seed Chicago Bulls in an early season matchup that could shake up some of the play-in tournament standings going forward. Ahead of tonight’s match, Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr will surely have some key areas for the team to focus on. Some of which could decide the game.
Both of these teams have been struggling to start the season and, to put it diplomatically, have vastly underperformed preseason expectations a quarter of the way through the season. Both teams will certainly be looking to turn things around tonight.

The Washington Wizards need to limit the Bulls ability to rebound.

With players like Nikola Vucevic, Andre Drummond, and even Patrick Williams roaming the paint for the Chicago Bulls, the Washington Wizards will need to ensure that they are extra attentive to securing rebounds after every possession.

This shouldn’t be too big of a task with big men like Kristaps Porzingis and Daniel Gafford getting big minutes. They will just need to be locked in on the game for the full 48 minutes of action.

Players like Deni Avdija and Kyle Kuzma can also help hound the boards as they are both taller and athletic enough to chase after rebounds. The big emphasis here is going to be effort from the entire team to limit second chance opportunities while simultaneously trying to create some for themselves.

The Washington Wizards need to play strong defense at the rim.

The Chicago Bulls have multiple high-quality centers as well as numerous high-flying guards, this will certainly put plenty of pressure on the interior defense, especially in the non-Gafford minutes.

Porzingis can stand his ground better, creating more difficulties as getting around his huge frame can’t be easy. He will be the key to preventing Chicago from lighting them up in the painted area.

Avdija will also be key as his defense has proven to be invaluable numerous times over his young career, possibly being one of the better defensive pieces in the league. If he and the other perimeter players are able to stop players from getting past them, it will make the job of Porzingis and Gafford much easier.

Corey Kispert, Monte Morris, and Will Barton could all be a huge positive to this for the Wizards. Keeping the Bulls out of the paint is definitely a key concern.

If the three-point shots aren’t going in, the Washington Wizards need to find another focus on offense.

The Washington Wizards have a nasty tendency to get three-point happy after they see a few shots go in. Their lack of ability to make the extra pass at times makes it difficult to stay hot from three for long periods of time. Sometimes they’ll go through cold streaks, some players worse than others.

To avoid the negative impact that could result from one of these cold streaks, if a player isn’t shooting well in the game and they aren’t wide open, they should make the extra pass for a better look or look to put the ball on the ground to see if there’s a driving lane.

Making the extra pass even just occasionally would do a lot for the Wizards, Corey Kispert has been a major culprit in this area. If he passed up a decent look from three to a wide-open teammate for three with consistency, they would score more often.

If the Washington Wizards are able to knock it out of the park in these areas, they should have no problem defeating the Chicago Bulls in tonight’s matchup.