The Oklahoma City Thunder visited the nation’s capital in an anticipated game against the Washington Wizards. This game had several storylines: the injuries to Wizards guard Bradley Beal (shoulder) and center Nene (back); the battle of two of the best playing guards in the NBA in Washington point guards John Wall and Oklahoma’s Russell Westbrook; and the return of homegrown small forward Kevin Durant who, at the end of the season, will be a free agent. Surely fans were at the Verizon Center to see a high-octane basketball game and get a glimpse of a possibly future Wizard in Durant.
In the end however, the big story was that Washington was overwhelmed by Oklahoma and lost the game, 125-101.
Beal was missed. His 47.1 percent shooting behind the arc and 22.7 points per game is ninth best in the league. Obviously his ability to stay healthy during the season is crucial to this new offense of the Wizards.
Washington could have put up more of a fight against the Thunder. The team did not appear to play hard enough and, with the loss of Beal and Nene, it was even more crucial to the game for those left active to play harder.
Given that, Head Coach Randy Wittman was not happy with his team. Of all the supremely low stats from the game, his focus was his squad’s lack of defense.
“We didn’t hit anybody and rebound the ball,” the coach said after loss. “We got guys that play 27 minutes and get one defensive rebound. I can get a rebound. I guarantee you. You give me 27 minutes on Saturday; I’ll get you a rebound.”
The Wizards were out-rebounded by Thunder, 53 to 41.
Wittman made no excuses for not having Beal or Nene and insisted that the Wizards just are simply under-performing. Again, a huge issue was defense. Center Marcin Gortat was on the boards for 27 minutes and had one rebound.
“We are just too soft of a team right now,” he said, referring to his team’s lack of effort. “I might as well stick four guards and a center out there and play because were getting beat on the boards with my ‘supposed’ big men out there.
We don’t get dirty and that’s on me,” the coach also said. “We’ve got three days to find the guys that will play that way.”
Gortat completed last night’s game with 15 points and three rebounds, playing 27 minutes. He took the criticism.
“It’s definitely my fault,” the center said, “I have to take the blame and it’s my part of the blame where I have to rebound.”
The bench played and tried to save the game as best they could with small forward Kelly Oubre, Jr. scoring a career high of 11 points and his first three-pointer. He played for 26 minutes. Point guard Ramon Sessions finished up the night with 15 points.
The Wizards kept the turnovers down as well. Going into the third quarter, they had caused three with a final turnover count of eight. All-Star point guard John Wall played for 25 minutes and had nine points with five assists. Small forward Otto Porter had 14 points and point guard Gary Neal finished with 14 points for the night.
It was a tough night for the Wizards, allowing the Thunder to run right through them. The tendency of the Wizards to give up over 60 points by halftime — like the 70 that they allowed by the Boston Celtics — is a troubling one. Oklahoma scored 68 points in that time frame.
Westbrook singularly dominated the game for the Thunder, posting a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds. Durant left the game after the half with a hamstring strain and even still finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists in less than 17 minutes in the first half.
The Wizards have just three days to get their act together to get ready for the Orlando Magic on Saturday. Typically they are given the day after a game off. Written in big letters on the message board in the locker room last night however, was a narrative saying that this would not be the case after this contest.
Having lost their third game in a row, center Gortat summed up last night’s loss by saying: “We just got punked.”