The Washington Wizards spoiled John Wall’s long-awaited return to DC with a 131-119 victory over the Houston Rockets. The Rockets entered the games without players like Christian Wood, PJ Tucker and Eric Gordon, in addition to being losers in five consecutive games.
For Wizards, it looked like it was a game with a chance of winning, but what stood out over the first half was the lack of transition from the Wizards game on Sunday against the Celtics in the first half. The Wizards gave 69 points before the half for the Rockets. This is the best defensive performance of the team, which lost only 91 points on Sunday.
In the second half, the Wizards’ defense narrowed and kept the Rockets at 21.6 percent of the 3-point interval for the game. Wizards won a 131-119 victory over the Rockets and hopes to end their home game on Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets before heading to the West Coast for a long trip.
Apprenticeship
John Wall was back in shape
Wall started early and took over at the beginning of his return to the city where he started his career. He had 22 points and managed 7 assists ………… alone in the first half. Wall ended with 29 points and 9 assists. The Wizards maintained defensive control, but Wall was also content with many jumpers in the second half. Wall performed remarkably poorly in the second half of this season’s games, and that game was no exception.
Video tribute to John Wall:
Bradley Beal also had a great night
Beal was absolutely on fire tonight, which is no surprise. He adds even more the case of being selected as the holder of the Eastern Conference for the All-Star game with the NBATV National Audience with eyes on this game. Beal finished with 37 points (14-24 FG, 3-8 3FG), 8 rebounds and 3 assists
Russell Westbrook had a mixed performance
Tonight was the first time this season that Westbrook played back to back and the results were mixed. He finished with a double triple (16 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists). but he only got 6 out of 20 and had 5 turnovers to raise.
Other notes
- The new starting lineup that includes Mo Wagner and Garrison Mathews is now 2-0. The team was successful in these two games getting better starts. Can this training continue with this impulse?
- Deni Avdija struggled to play defense tonight. He accumulated 3 quick fouls at the start of the 4th, which essentially put him on the bench for most of the rest of the room. He is only the 2nd in the team in fouls per game. Playing defense without getting dirty will be a big point of emphasis for him if he wants to stay in rotation.