One, two, three, four, FIF! 

Yes, the Washington Wizards are on a 5 game winning streak after defeating the Lakers Monday night, 127-124. This marks their first 5 game winning streak since February 2018 and Washington has now won 8 of their last 13 games. 

Woot Woot!

BealBrook

Bradley Beal brought Washington to the PromiseLand once again by scoring 6 of his 33 points on 3 consecutive possessions late in Overtime regulation. Russell-Mania also scored 6 of his 32 points in overtime. Wizards rally back from yet another double-digit deficit for the win. Do not count this team out. 

The All-Star duo contributed 65 points, 21 rebounds, and 15 assists. 

BealBrook is in full effect and they are getting very comfortable playing on the court together. In the last 5 games, the backcourt duo has averaged 53.4 points per game, 18.6 rebounds, and 17.4 assists. These guys are starting to look like two peas in a pod. 

Westbrook plays at 120 mph and it can either be a huge benefit or detrimental to our offense. Russell started the season off 0-5 when contributing a triple-double and now the Wizards are on a 3 game winning streak when he does score a triple-double. He was one assist shy of a triple-double last night and we can expect to see more of this high-level play in games to come. 

Lakers

The Lakers have lost 4 of their last 5 games. They need Anthony Davis immediately. 

Davis missed his 4th consecutive game last night and will be out at least three more weeks with a calf injury. Lakers need him sooner than later because after the Marc Gasol 4 point play in the first, he only scored 3 more points for the rest of the game. 

Montrezl Harrell was having his way scoring 29 points and 9 rebounds in 23 minutes. 

Last night, the Lakers played their 4th overtime regulated contest in 17 games with all of them at home against teams with losing records. 

LeBron James (country voice) finished with 31 points, shot 14/29 from the field with 13 assists and 9 rebounds in 43 minutes. The GOAT scored 31 points on 29 shots, I’ll take that any day of the week. I know he wants that free-throw back because 

Rui Hachimura is starting to show that he is a five-position defender. Last night, Rui was on the front line to guard LeBron and did a very well job. Rui finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds while shooting 75 percent from the field in 37 minutes. Marking his 8th consecutive game with double-figure points. 

Rui Hachimura: “Russell Westbrook told me I can guard one through five, that I’m the only one who can do it here on the team. That actually made me start to think about how important defense is for me.”

Post Game Thoughts/Trailblazers

But as they say, a win is a win. When the Wizards win, the outside loves to look at the injury report and any other circumstance that can factor into a win. On the other hand, when the Wizards get blown out or lose, the narrative is that this team is “terrible”. Let’s not forget that earlier in this season, the Washington Wizards only had about 6 to 7 players available. Keep that same energy. 

Haters are going to hate, Wizards are going to ball!

Over the last 8 games, this team has looked completely different and it starts with defense. In the win over Portland Saturday night, Washington kept Lillard where they needed him except in that third quarter where he scored 23 points on 7/8 shooting. Demi-God mode. Who woke up Lillard? Don’t do it again. 

Lillard ended the night with 35 points on 30 shots. Pretty impressive defense if you ask me. The bittersweet part is that Washington allowed another 40 point first quarter against Portland but ultimately held them to 12 points in the second quarter and 19 points in the 4th. 

Washington closed out on switches, always had a hand up, and did the most important thing which is COMMUNICATE. Every time this team plays defense, wonders happen. 

Who is this team? 

In the last five wins, Washington has averaged 122 points per game with 54 ppg coming from the paint and shooting at an impressive 48.6% from field goal range. On the defensive end, Washington has kept teams under 120 points (114.6), only allowed teams to shoot at a 43% clip from field goal range, and has outmatched teams in the paint by 12 points per game.

I will ask again, who is this team?

Deni Avdija

The Wizraeli came into the league confident and fearless with no plans of backing down to anyone or a challenge. Last night, Deni hit clutch shots and played impressive defense on a player who was MVP when he was 8 years old. Confidence like this is not something you can buy and will be very beneficial towards his development in the future. Deni did not have the strongest first half but in your first game against LeBron, jitters are expected. 

“I’m not afraid of anybody, so I’m just gonna take the challenge every time,” Avdija said after the game. “For me, the player I’m guarding, I take seriously [as an] equal. Just stepped up, took the challenge, and played my defense. I guess he had a hard time so that’s good.”

The rookie cleaned up his play in the second half and contributed to the Wizards win. The Wizraeli hit a clutch corner  3 with 55.6 seconds left in the 4th to put Washington up by 3. 

Deni is currently averaging 6.7 points per game, 5 rebounds, and shooting 44 percent from the field. These are not Rookie of the Year stats but with his confidence, we are sure to see those numbers shoot up. 

When Scott Brooks is asked about Deni’s play vs the Lakers, he responds

“I thought Deni came out and struggled in the first half,” Brooks said. “I don’t know if it’s playing the Lakers for the first time, playing against LeBron for the first time, but I thought in the second half he bounced back, he competed, he challenged, he got rebounds, he made some shots.”

Great win, Fellas!