Beal torched the Heat to earn our preseason PoTW.
Since when does playing two games qualify as enough to make someone the player of the week? Well, at least since Washington’s Bradley Beal decided he wanted to become the go-to scorer the Wizards drafted him to be.
Beal was the main factor in a 100-82 victory against the Miami Heat Tuesday. The second-year shooting guard dropped 29 points while netting four of his eight threes.
He only took 15 shots in about 31 minutes, but made 10 of them. Preseason or no preseason, that’s efficient.
He also added a steal and a couple of rebounds along with his offensive display. Okay, so those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but he wasn’t drafted to play post defense or lock down LeBron James. He was drafted to score, and he did that plenty.
Beal’s highlight was probably a nifty behind-the-back move he put on Miami’s Dwyane Wade which ended with the young guard out of the University of Florida sending a tear drop off the glass and through the iron.
The win against Miami was a turn of events for the Wizards after they lost to Chicago on Saturday 83-81. Again, Beal tickled the nylon with the deep shot, going 2-3 behind the arc. He finished with 16 points on the night.
If he wanted to show his defensive abilities in any game, it was in that loss to Chicago. Beal had the pick-pocket action working as he ended up with three steals, and he added a block for good measure.
Is 16 points exceptional? No, it’s not. But he led his team in scoring and was still efficient shooting 6-14 from the field.
A good sign for Washington was Beal’s ability to go to his left and hit the pull-up jumper. If Beal wants to establish himself a premiere shooting guard in the NBA, he’ll have to become more consistent from mid-range.
Washington will host the New York Knicks tomorrow night for some more preseason action.
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