Anthony Davis has missed back-to-back games with a sprained ankle, and while the injury doesn't seem to have any long-term implications, it's imperative that they get him back soon. The Washington Wizards have lost three in a row, and the two most recent losses have been without Davis, and they've been especially ugly.
In their first loss without him, they gave up 139 points, a season high, to the Atlanta Hawks. In their most recent loss without him, they scored 79 points, a season low, against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The offense and defense have both sputtered without their star big man, and if the Wizards hope to make the playoffs, they'll need him back soon to avoid digging an even deeper hole.
The Wizards' offense looked lifeless against the Thunder
To say Davis was needed against the Thunder was an understatement. En route to an embarrassing 79-point outing, the Wizards shot 30 percent from the field, 16 percent from three, and 67 percent from the line. Just about everyone on the roster played below their capabilities on offense, except for AJ Dybantsa, who finished with a respectable 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting.
Trae Young, in particular, struggled mightily, and he especially missed the latter half of his dynamic duo. He finished with, by far, a season-low four points on 1-for-6 shooting as he couldn't create any space against an extremely physical Thunder defense.
The Wizards' bench also went back to being underwhelming after a promising previous game. The reserves scored 24 points against OKC, and the only one who played well was Bub Carrington. He finished with nine points and six rebounds. He was 3-for-3 from deep. But Tre Johnson shot 2-for-15, and the trio of Johnson, Will Riley, and Deandre Ayton, combining for 11 points, did them in.
Having Davis opens the court up for everyone, and while he alone may not have saved this abomination of a performance, the team certainly would have cracked 80 points with him in the lineup.
The defense then struggled exponentially against the Hawks
In their first game without Davis, the offense actually looked great, but the defense wasn't able to string together any stops. The game against Atlanta was the best the bench had looked all season, as previously mentioned. Johnson exploded for 23 points and five made threes off the bench, and the bench as a whole shot 50 percent from three.
George also had one of the best nights of his career, scoring his second-most points in a game with 33. He poured in five threes and had eight assists, too. Young also had a double-double with 23 points and 10 assists, although he did have nine turnovers, too.
The offense wasn't an issue at all here. The Hawks scored 139 points. That's 18 more points than any other team has scored on the Wizards this season. It's nearly impossible to win if you're giving up nearly 140. Davis is the team's best defender, and he's still one of the best rim protectors in the sport. Having him out there makes everyone's job on that end ten times easier.
The Wizards will need him back soon. They're down to 4-6, a season-low two games under .500. The Eastern Conference is deeper than ever, and they're going to need their two-way superstar to come back to help pull this team back into the playoff picture.
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