Good morning. Let’s basketball.
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The Washington Wizards, who should be decent if not good after trading for Russell Westbrook, re-signing Davis Bertans, drafting Deni Avdija and signing Robin Lopez, are bad. The Wizards are 0-4, and not against the world’s toughest schedule. They have two losses to the Magic, a loss to the Sixers and Tuesday’s frustrating loss to the previously winless Bulls.
This loss must really sting, because at no point did the Bulls even look that good, and yet.
Westbrook is a divisive player, and he’s shooting worse than usual so far this season, so it’s natural to re-open questions about the usefulness of his acquisition for a team built around the incredible offensive talents of Bradley Beal. But Westbrook and Beal have actually done just fine. Despite being 0-4, the Wizards are +29 in the 78 minutes RWB and Beal have shared on the court. Washington isn’t falling behind when the star duo is on the court: Washington is falling behind when Westbrook is off the court.
Here’s the breakdown:
Beal and Westbrook both on: 78 minutes, +29
Beal on, Westbrook off: 71 minutes, -45
Westbrook on, Beal off: 32 minutes, -14
Beal and Westbrook both off: 11 minutes, -1
While obviously we’re just a week into the season and the sample sizes are minuscule, if you’re trying to suss out why the Wizards are 0-4 you can’t argue with the data that says the team is losing when Westbrook or Beal sit and doing pretty well when Westbrook and Beal are on the court together. (Westbrook sat one game; it was not a blowout, which could otherwise have skewed these numbers.)
Any talk about chemistry, fit, flow, whatever needs to reckon with the reality that Beal is scoring like crazy, Westbrook is racking up assists and the team has only performed well with both on the court.
The issue when I look at the Wizards — and it definitely stood out in the loss to the Bulls — is where Davis Bertans finds himself.
Like last year, Scott Brooks is bringing Bertans off the bench, which makes some intuitive sense. Washington is not deep, Beal and Westbrook are ball-hungry scorers, Bertans isn’t a plus defender. It all makes sense. But Bertans coming off the bench and playing just 21 minutes per game so far really limits the frequency of when Brooks can put his three best scorers on the floor together. The Beal-Westbrook-Bertans lineup feels dangerous, but we’ve seen it just 31 minutes this season (it’s a +11).
Deni Avdija has been quite good as a rookie starter, at least with the limited touches and role he’s in. Starting Bertans over Isaac Bonga — as Brooks finally did in the second half on Tuesday — is going hurt the already troubled defense. But if it unlocks Bertans and gets the Wizards’ offense cooking and confident, maybe it’s worth the trade. If Bertans is going, perhaps those line-ups with just one of Westbrook or Beal plus Bertans can survive. Besides, it’s not like the Wizards defense is going to be good with Bonga starting and Bertans off the bench. The Wizards defense is what it is. Bad.
All of this armchair analysis is one hot or cold streak from being irrelevant. The data is obviously extremely limited owing to only four games having been played. But the conversation around the Wizards is tipping into familiar, frustrating territory. Yes, Westbrook is an inefficient shooter and is shooting inefficiently this season. And yet, the team has only been a net positive when he’s on the court with Beal.
It shouldn’t be that hard to accept that a roster where Beal (a really great player) is the only star on the floor is going to be quite bad — I present the last two seasons as evidence. Blaming Westbrook for what he isn’t remains wholly counterproductive to understanding why his teams succeed or fail. There’s a lot to figure out in Washington right now. How to change Westbrook shouldn’t be one of them.
Scores
Knicks 96, Cavaliers 86 — Julius Randle is having himself a season! He’s averaging 24-10-7 and New York is 2-2. I’m guessing not many people had him on their first-time All-Star list!
Warriors 116, Pistons 106 — YO!
Celtics 116, Pacers 111 — Very close to a Week 2 statement game from the beautiful Indiana Pacers, but alas, Jayson Tatum was too powerful in the fourth quarter (he scored 14 in the period to Indy’s 17). Boston survived a pretty rough defensive performance. I’m eager to see how both of these teams’ defenses perform as the season wears on. The offense is there — Tatum is a full-on scoring star, the Pacers have a trio of great playmaker-scorers in Sabonis, Oladipo and Brogdon. These teams could end up jostling for seeding in the East, and defense might be the difference.
Raptors 93, Sixers 100 — Another fourth quarter comeback for Philly. I’m starting to think that calling Tampa home does not suit the Raptors, even when they’re on the road. Better move them to Buffalo. I hear sports are going well there this year.
Bucks 144, Heat 97 — The TNT doubleheader was this game (a 32-point margin at halftime) and Suns-Pels (a 22-point game at the half). Meanwhile, Boston-Indiana and Sacramento-Denver were entertaining barnburners. What terrible luck!
Anyway, Milwaukee broke the record for most threes by a team in a game with 29.
Magic 118, Thunder 107 — Orlando is the only 4-0 team in the NBA, one of two unbeaten teams remaining. Kudos to them. I’m going to need to watch them to be able to say more. But a potential NBA champ and League Pass champ in the same year? Can’t rule it out.
Oklahoma City’s rotation is just an incredible collection of names. Mike Muscala is definitely the second most well-known basketball on the list, behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. After that is Lu Dort and … Justin Jackson? Darius Bazley? Justin Jackson and Darius Bazley are probably the fourth and fifth most famous players in the Oklahoma City Thunder rotation, respectively. And the team, it’s frisky!
Pelicans 86, Suns 111 — Neither Devin Booker or Chris Paul scored in double figures, and Phoenix won by 25. Impressive!
Timberwolves 101, Clippers 124
Nuggets 115, Kings 125 — Tyrese Haliburton is every bit worth the hype. It’s quite fun seeing a thousand NBA writers and fans wonder how he fell to No. 12 pretty much every time he plays.
The Kangz are 3-1 having played the Nuggets and Suns twice each. They have a pair with the Rockets next. This is worth monitoring.
League Pass Cup Update
The Cavs and Thunder leave the rank of the perfect in the League Pass Cup. The Magic take their third win, and the Knicks get on the board.
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The state of the Timberwolves is a perfect reflection of the glory and mystery of the League Pass Cup: two terrible blowout losses in Los Angeles, but still 2-0 in the League Pass Cup. Because in the League Pass Cup, it doesn’t matter how bad you lose to the Lakers!
If you’re wondering when our two stragglers are going to join the party, the Kings’ first League Pass Cup game is January 6 (vs. Bulls) and the Spurs are up on January 9 (vs. Wolves).
Schedule
Six games on Wednesday, including an NBA TV doubleheader. No action in the League Pass Cup. All times Eastern. Games on League Pass unless otherwise noted.
Grizzlies at Celtics, 7:30
Hawks at Nets, 7:30
Bucks at Heat, 7:30, NBA TV
One of the funniest brewing subplots of this weird season is these back-to-backs — sorry Heat, I know Milwaukee whipped your ass by 47 points last night, run it back
Hornets at Mavericks, 8:30
Lakers at Spurs, 8:30
Blazers at Clippers, 10, NBA TV
Links
Shams Charania at The Athletic reports the G League is preparing a bubble in Orlando beginning in February. ($) About half the league is opting out.
Ugh, Ja Morant’s ankle will keep him out 3-5 weeks. The first quarter of the season will be done by that point, and we may have a good sense as to whether Memphis will be competitive for the play-in spots or take up residence in the West cellar this season. Here’s Dan Devine on the situation.
More Devine, this time on the hot Hawks.
Kevin Love cannot catch a basketball break, is out 3-4 weeks with a calf strain.
One time, the Atlanta Hawks drafted a baby.
Interesting thoughts from Seth Partnow at The Athletic about what all of these blowouts mean. ($)
Breaking down how Anthony Edwards is getting to the rim.
Curtis Harris on Phil Ford, one-time point guard of the future.
Caitlin Cooper on Doug McDermott setting screens.
Scott Hines with a beautiful sentiment about hope for a return to normalcy.
Be excellent to each other.
