Wizards put together arguably their worst performance of the season vs. Clippers
By John Canady
The Washington Wizards entered Wednesday night's battle against the Los Angeles Clippers with a prime opportunity to end their double digit losing streak at home.
Despite the chance to protect home court and get back in the win column, the Wizards came out and put together possibly the most lackluster performance they possibly could. Washington came out flat both offensively and defensively, and they allowed for the road team to dominate them from start to finish.
Following the loss, here's a look at just how poorly the Wizards played. Between the huge night they allowed for James Harden to have and the minimal production from the team's core players, it's hard to take any positives away from this matchup.
James Harden drops season-high
James Harden entered this matchup leading a Clippers team into battle without fellow running mate Kawhi Leonard. Despite that, the former MVP showed why the Clippers made the big in-season move last year to trade for the star guard.
The Arizona State product finished the night with 43 points, seven assists and four rebounds on 59.1% shooting from field goal range (13/22 FG) and 63.6% from beyond the arc (7/11 3PT).
Averaging 21.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.7 assists throughout the season, it's clear that limiting Harden's production is a challenge of it's own, but the Wizards defensive tactics did absolutely nothing to slow down the Clippers star.
Wizards starting unit combined for 41 points
The Wizards starting lineup has been a constant carousel of changes throughout the season. However, on Wednesday, the starting lineup that first-year head coach Brian Keefe rolled out there put together an argument to change it up yet again.
Washington's starters finished with a combined 41 points on the night with 30 of the points coming from two players in Malcolm Brogdon and Alex Sarr. Brogdon finished the night tied with a team-high 17 points and six assists, while Sarr added 13 points of his own. Aside from the veteran and the rookie, the rest of the Wizards starters contributed 11 total points.
The other lone player to put reach double digit points was veteran big man Jonas Valanciunas who contributed 17 points of his own. Outside of that, the Wizards team seemingly struggled from top to bottom.
Following the loss, the Wizards losing streak has now reached 13 games and has shown no signs of ending any time soon with a matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks looming.