Mini Playoff Series vs Miami

After a great and heartfelt comeback win against the Miami Heat on February 3rd, Washington fans felt as if the tides could be turning. Well, that faith did not last long after Washington gets absolutely blown out the next two games. Suffering astonishing losses against the Miami Heat (splitting the series) and Charlotte Hornets. 

The Washington Wizards fell short to the Miami Heat on Friday night, 122-95. Robin Lopez was getting absolutely cooked, Westbrook couldn’t stop turning the ball over and Beal’s hot scoring streak went cold. Yes, Bradley Beal is human. On Friday night, Beal had one of his worst shooting performances in a very long time. The future 2021 All-Star (calling it into existence) shot 1/14 from the field, 1/7 from 3Pt, and scored 7 points in 27 minutes. Overall, just an ugly loss. 

They were down by 37, how embarrassing!

This was Miami’s biggest lead of the season and Washington’s largest deficit of the season. Woof!

In order for this team to succeed, Beal is going to have to average 30+ points. To add fuel to the fire, the Washington Wizards are practically winless when he scores over 40. How is that even possible? Out of twenty-four 40 point plus performances, Washington has loss 18 of those games. Things could be worse, Wilt Chamberlain’s teams collectively loss 113 games when he scored around 40 points and Jordan is next up with 64 defeats in 40 point outings. 

In Friday’s matchup, Beal was 0/12 from the field and 0/5 from 3 point with 4 points at the half. The Wizards trailed the Heat 71-43. Beal needs help and not from the offensive standpoint of the ball because nights like this will happen but he needs help on the defensive side. 

Kendrick Nunn gave Washington a 25 piece with a couple of sides. Adebayo was just having his way with 21 points, Kelly Olynk aka the Washington Killer had 17, Herro dropped 17 and Jimmy Butler almost dropped a triple-double. Washington was able to hold Miami to 35 second-half points in their win but allowed 40 first-quarter points in their loss on Friday. 

These Scottie Brook rotations and starting lineups are so suspect. He has the characteristics of Dr. Jekll and Mr. Hyde and wants to make the life of Washington fans miserable. Get this man out of DC, ASAP! He is so predictable at this point. Start off cold and takes a timeout….starts to get blown out then takes another timeout. I want to be a fly in the arena to hear what Scott Brooks says to his players during timeouts and halftime. I would find my way easily because flies are attracted to _____!

”We have to have some pride, some dog (in us),” Beal said. ”We kind of let teams walk over us. … We got our butts kicked twice in a row and that is never appealing to anybody.”

Washington vs Charlotte 

Unfortunately, things did not get any better Sunday afternoon. Washington suffered another shaming loss falling to the Charlotte Hornets, 119-97.  Washington is now 5-15 and currently ranked 14th in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Knicks would be in the playoffs and Washington would easily miss any opportunity for a Play-In Tournament. This play of basketball is just horrible to watch and it should disgust viewers.

Where do I begin?

Washington is 2-0 with Westbrook against the Nets and 0-12 when he is in the lineup against any other team. Since their 121 point contest against the Trailblazers, Washington’s scoring output has been diminishing. They barely broke 100 with the win against Miami earlier in the week and in their losses since have not broken the 100 point barrier. This is something worth noting and looking into. Washington can easily put up 120 points, why the lack of efficiency now?

In the last 4 games, Davis Bertans has shot 9/27 from 3 Point range. 40 million dollars for what? Maybe his efficiency will improve once his legs are back under him and he is in shape. This is not the Bertans we grew to love last season. We all knew he couldn’t play defense but at least he could shoot the lights out, if he isn’t doing neither…do we trade him?

Why did Cody Zeller have his season average in scoring in the first 5 minutes of the game? Why was LaMelo pulling up from half-court with no defensive coverage? How did Charlotte’s guards out rebound Washington bigs?

Gordan Hayward and Terry Rozier put up a clinic with a combined 51 points and shot 56% from the field. Washington honestly didn’t show up on Sunday. The Wizards lost the matchup in offensive rebounds, turnovers allowed, points in the paint, second-chance points, and faced a 29 point deficit. The Hornets took Washington’s heart and did the breakdance move where you cough it up and stomp on it. The Charlotte Hornets were literally laughing at the Wizards before halftime. 

Disgrace. 

Washington vs Bulls

Tonight, Washington faces the Chicago Bulls (9-13, 11th Eastern) at 8 pm. We all know that there will be a battle between Beal and Levine. This is the third matchup of the year between the two teams. Chicago won the last meeting 133-130 on December 31st. Otto Porter scored 28 on his former team. Chicago is 5-5 in their last 10 games, averaging 113 points and 8 steals a game. Chicago is going to come out hot and it will be up to Washington to ensure that Levine does not have his way the whole game. Levine is currently averaging 27 points per game and has the ability to drop 50 any given night. 

After two embarrassing losses and being the laughing stock of the NBA, it is time for this Washington team to buckle down and bounce back

Injuries

Washington: Russell Westbrook & Thomas Bryant

Bulls: Wendell Carter Jr (out), Lauri Markkanen (day to day) & Otto Porter (day to day)