Wizards 107
Pacers 89
January 30, 2019 | Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.
In the Scott Brooks era, the Washington Wizards have always been a team that succeeds when they play hard, especially on the defensive end. When they lock in on that end of the court, everything else typically falls into place. Case in point over the last 24-plus hours as they fall to the woeful Cavaliers simply to beat one of the Eastern Conference contenders the next night. The Wizards are 1-8 on the first night of back-to-backs this season, but a ridiculous 7-2 on the second leg to further the theme of constantly surprising.
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Starting lineup change
Otto Porter was finally re-inserted into the starting lineup on Wednesday night for the first time since December 10. Things could not have gone much worse for Porter as he exited in the third quarter with a toe injury after logging just 16 minutes in the game. The three points on 1-of-5 shooting is not pretty, but he did have four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the limited playing time. It was also against Indiana that Porter suffered his leg injury that cost him 10 games last month. With the switch, Jeff Green was moved back to the bench and he responded with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting, six assists, and five rebounds in 29 minutes.
Jordan McRae rotation minutes
It was the two-way guard that led the charge against Cleveland on Tuesday with 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting in just eight minutes of play. Despite it being garbage time and Washington still losing the game, it caught Brooks’ eye to give him an opportunity the next night. In 26 minutes, the G League’s leading scorer has 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, but that was not what Brooks was most pleased with.
“I thought he did a good job of staying within himself,” the coach said. “I thought he did a good job of attacking guys that he knew he could attack. He took good shots – I thought he took maybe one bad shot but it was good that he competed on the defensive end. Coach Jarell [Christian] has done a good job with our [Capital City] Go-Go team and he’s done a good job with Jordan. Jordan has to focus on the defensive end. There are a lot of scorers in the world, but there are only so many scorers who can score in an NBA game. I thought his defense was really good tonight, and that’s what we need out of him.”
Rebounding and turnovers
Washington is now 12-0 when they win the battle of the boards. They are a miserable 10-29 (.256) when tying or losing the rebounding contest. When Ante Zizic and Larry Nance dominated the glass in Cleveland with double-digit rebounds each, it was a telltale sign the Wizards were in trouble. Against Indiana, none of the Pacers had more than eight rebounds. Another sign of defensive engagement was the forcing of 17 turnovers that led to 29 points. Facing off with one of the better defensive teams in the NBA, that played a huge role for Washington’s victory.
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Next Game: The Wizards will again host Jason Smith and the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
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