[ WE Game Recap ] - Wizards vs. Kings: SacTown Gets the Best of D.C...Again

kings 96 wizards 94
1/28/2013 - Verizon Center, Washington, DC
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights


(Photo by Joe Glorioso * Wizards Extreme)

 

This is a no brainer, It has to be Emeka Okafor. The dude once again was lights out. 23 points and 15 rebounds on 9/13 shooting. Considering how dominant he was in the first quarter, I’m a little surprised that Wittman and the rest of the team didn’t continue to feed him the ball in the low post. One possession particularly stands out late in the game when they decided to try and feed the ball to Nene in the paint with the game on the line. Ultimately, this didn’t end up leading to the team’s loss, but I felt as though, in that moment, with the game on the line, you should always feed the ball to your best player. Okafor deserved to have the ball at that time and for whatever reason, they didn’t give it to him. 23 and 15 is great, but he could’ve had 35 and 20 if they kept feeding him the ball.

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Bradley Beal: Easily one of the worst games I think we’ve seen from Bradley Beal since late November. Coach Wittman hinted after the game that he felt that his wrist was bothering him but if it wasn’t his wrist, it was his mind. From the beginning of the game, he just appeared to be one step behind. Committing sloppy fouls, not huslting and most importantly, not able to hit jump shots. He even had an airball or two to his credit. I just hope that this was a result of him having a bad game as opposed to him being injured. This team can ill afford to lose one of their most consistent shooters over the last few months just as things have begun to turn around for them.

Tyreke Evans: The guy was average at best. He didn’t really do too much to hurt Washington in tonight’s game, but he played a decent game from a statistical perspective. 13 points, 6 assists and 5 boards. His backcourt mate was the guard that really hurt the Wizards tonight. Isaiah Thomas took over the game with his dribble penetration, great passing, and of course, the clutch game winner with one second left.

 

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The Good

Emeka Okafor. He’s continuing to play some of the best ball we’ve seen him play since his early years in the league. He went from a liability on the court, to not being able to be taken off the court due to his dominance. Not only is he scoring points, but he’s been getting lots of rebounds, averaging nearly 12 rebounds a game over his last 10 games. A lot of people point to John Wall to the recent resurgence of the Wizards, and rightfully so, but there has to be a direct correlation to Okafor’s consistency to match the Wizards recent play.

 

The Bad

Not very rarely do we ever mention this guy in this category, but to me, Nene was the bad. 4 points, 7 rebounds and a game high 6 turnovers. Too many times throughout the course of tonight’s game did we see Nene try to take the ball in the paint, go up for a shot attempt, and change his mind half way through the attempt. This lead to missed baskets and bad turnovers. None of which were most costly than the third to last possession of the game when the game was on the line. He’s been too clutch for this team for me to put him in the dog house, but i feel that anyone who was watching tonight’s game would feel the same way.

 

The Ugly

Bradley Beal. I don’t know if his injured wrist is bothering him, but he seemed disinterested from the outset. There’s really not much else to say about him tonight because if we got the same production from Beal tonight as we’ve been seeing and getting over the last month, this game might have ended  up being a blow out for the Wiz Kids.