Wizards lose fingernails against Kings, lose seventh in last eight originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Wizards lost to the Sacramento Kings 121-119 on Wednesday night. Here are five takeaways from what happened …
As impressive as the Wizards played on their February takeoff, where they won seven of eight games, they have continued to do the exact opposite of that ever since. They won seven of eight and now, after losing to the Kings on Wednesday, they have subsequently lost seven of eight.
They’re back where they were at one of their lowest points of the season, 11 games under 0.500 at 14-25. And this time around, there doesn’t seem to be a good (or at least obvious) reason. Earlier this year, they had injuries and a coronavirus outbreak to blame. However, neither of these things is a factor, at least to some extent. And that stretch followed a time when they showed they can beat good teams and maintain success. Now all of a sudden they can’t do that.
So what happened? In short, their defense has regressed dramatically. They also cannot do three; they shot just 4 for 25 from the perimeter against Sacramento. All of this makes next week’s trade deadline more and more interesting. How are they going to handle this?
A big issue in this game for the Wizards was the turnovers, and both ends of the floor. They made 15 turnovers and the Kings converted them to 26 points. Meanwhile, the Wizards have forced the Kings to just eight turnovers, well below the 13.6 turnovers per game the Kings average for the season.
The Wizards typically see their opponents averaging 14.2 turnovers per game, 16th in the NBA. In this case, the Kings weren’t necessarily protecting the ball. The wizards just didn’t have enough pressure on them.
Just days ago, head coach Scott Brooks said in back-to-back press conferences that he wants more of Rui Hachimura and that he wants him to stop playing like the nice guy he is. off the field. Hachimura immediately responded with a back-to-back 20 point performance and rescheduled it to Wednesday against the Kings with 17 points, nine rebounds and two steals.
Right away, Hachimura was aggressive in attacking the rim. His first score was on a determined drive to the basket where he missed a runner and followed it with a backhand. He had a lot of other players where he drove right past his defender or intimidated them where he wanted to go. He plays like he knows he is one of the strongest players on the pitch, especially against guards and slender wings. He initiates contact and pushes people, so far without committing many offensive faults.
The Wizards almost had to play this game without their backup guard Raul Neto, who was listed as questionable and was then a game decision due to a rib contusion. Neto not only got to play, he played pretty well.
Neto had 12 points, scoring 10 in the first half. He shot 5 for 10 and had four assists. Neto has struggled with plenty of minor injuries this season, but has always been a bright spot for most. Signing him was one of the best moves the front office has made in the last offseason.
Ahead of that game, Brooks said that Wagner not playing against the Bucks at all in either of their last two games was more about showdowns than not being completely out of the rotation. But then they played the Kings and once again he didn’t see the ground.
Granted, Brooks also mentioned the difficulty of playing three crosses some nights. Wagner is a strange man in this regard. But unless it’s also showdowns, which is unlikely, it looks like Wagner is no longer on the rotation, at least for now. While many have referred to the Wizards as having a three-center rotation, it may now be really two. Robin Lopez is the only guy with a safe role, while Alex Len and Wagner swap places at the other place.
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