Wizards dominate against the Knicks behind Poole’s 41 points
By Jay Hanson
The Washington Wizards are now 3-0 in the preseason after defeating the New York Knicks 131-106 at Madison Square Garden. The win can be summed up with two players: Jordan Poole and Mike Muscala.
Jordan Poole might just be that dude! He was on fire in the first half, scoring 29 points before finishing the game with 41 points on 10/19 from the field. He was aggressive throughout and went to the free-throw line with ease, hitting 15/16 from the charity stripe.
Mike Muscala made 5 straight 3-point shots off the bench in the 1st half; an incredible showing that is unlikely to be repeated. For the game, he had 20 points and 7 rebounds, with 5 of 7 shooting from downtown. Without a doubt, his hot shooting changed the complexion of the game. His shots in the first half were off of catch and shoots, but the defense was much more keyed in on Muscala in the second half.
Mike Muscala’s floor game and defense were better than expected
The more impressive thing to note about Muscala beyond his 3-point shooting was his drive ability. He was extremely efficient with putting the ball down on the floor and driving to the basket, making plays off the dribble.
Secondly, Muscala’s defense was serviceable. He’s not a shot blocker, but he’s no pushover either. His presence in the paint had an impact on the opponent’s efficiency at the rim, which is encouraging to see because New York has powerful bigs. There was a moment in the second quarter when Coach Unseld Jr. had Muscala and Gafford on the court at the same time, and it worked!
It was reminiscent of the Gafford and Porzingis pairing from last season in that Muscala can stretch the defense while allowing the Wizards to deploy a two-big lineup. Coach Unseld Jr. also tried Gafford and Baldwin together but that didn’t work out as well.
It’s worth keeping an open mind about Muscala off the bench this season as a backup center. If he can rebound and provide serviceable defense in the paint as he did against the Knicks, and continues to shoot close to his career average from 3-point range of 37.9%, the rotation with him and Gafford could work out well for the Wizards.
Delon Wright might be a better fit as a starter over Tyus Jones
On a separate note, Tyus Jones was awful in this game. He missed wide-open layups, air-balled an open three-pointer early in the 1st quarter, and had a couple of ugly turnovers. It felt like the flu game, without the heroics. His stat line looked more impressive than his play on the court. He led the team with 7 assists and shot 6 of 12 from the field. Most of the scoring efficiency was after the starters were sat. He did have some nice assists, but overall he was below his standard.
I previously suggested that Delon Wright should start at the point guard spot, Jones’s play against the Knicks provided some additional support for that argument. I know this was just a bad preseason game but it was still concerning. I doubted Jones’ defense, and now I’m beginning to doubt his offense which I had previously assumed would be solid.
Delon Wright, on the other hand, was solid. His defense was superb, his passing was on point, and his offense was where it needed to be.
A special shout out to Ryan Rollins, who is looking every bit of a solid backup point guard with his defensive capability. He made some tough shots, had good reads, and more importantly played tough defense.
