How the Wizards started 2023
Monte Morris (22) on at the American Airlines Center January 24. The Wizards would defeat the Dallas Mavericks 127-126 | Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images
In simplest terms, January was a much better month for the Washington Wizards than December. Of course, there are a lot of things that didn’t go well, and I still see the same mistakes from the players and coaching staff alike, but the Wizards have been looking decent.
There’s probably been luck involved in some of these victories, too, especially in games that came down to the wire, but a win is a win. And the Wizards are playing, in the words of Spencer Dinwiddie, “winning basketball.”
The Wizards rang in the New Year with a blowout victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, the game’s final score 118-95. The Wizards usually get their weaknesses exploited by their opponents, but without Giannis, they had the upper hand over one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference (never mind the fact that the Bucks kindly returned the favor two days later upon Giannis’ return).
This was a strong team effort from the Wizards, especially in the absence of Bradley Beal, who was dealing with an injured hamstring. Daniel Gafford scored the first eight points for the Wizards and 13 of his total 17 in the first quarter, Kyle Kuzma had the second triple-double of his career (10 points(p)/11 assists(a)/13 rebounds(r)), it was a perfect shooting night for Corey Kispert, the stealing was plentiful, the Wizards scored a season-high 72 points in the paint, and Deni Avdija picked up another double-double (11p/12a).
Unfortunately, the Wizards have glaring problems with momentum, especially after a substitution is made. But substitutions don’t affect momentum as much as turnovers, and the Wizards were no strangers to bad-pass turnovers that night.
I’m afraid that turnovers will be a permanent issue for this Wizards team. And though the Wizards are a decent rebounding team, especially defensively, offensive rebounds are a rarity, and so are second-chance points. It wasn’t as much of an issue in this game compared to some others, but the Wizards missed out on many opportunities for second-chance points.
Speaking of career games and rebounds, the Wizards put on a career performance 10 days later when the Chicago Bulls visited. A 100-97 victory over the Bulls came at the hands of Monte Morris’ 15 third-quarter points, a career-high 18 points from Anthony Gill, and a clutch basket from Kuzma to finish the game. But defensive rebounds were the most important part of this game.
Kuzma reached 2000 career rebounds at Madison Square Garden, and Avdija, who returned to the starting lineup due to injury, had a career-high 20 rebounds (17 defensive). And on a personal note, it was nice to see Avdija in the starting five again. I’ve lost count of how many times the Wizards’ starting five has changed this season.
Gafford and Porzingis being sidelined due to injury led to Taj Gibson starting at center, which is a risk mostly because Gibson gets into foul trouble almost every game he plays, and that takes away from his efficiency. Injuries also led to more problematic lineups, most notably Delon Wright, Will Barton, Kuzma, Rui Hachimura, and Gill.
More often than not, Barton looks unplayable when he gets meaningful minutes, and putting him in a lineup with Kuzma and Hachimura when the latter is having issues with shot selection is another way to disrupt the momentum of a game.
I’m not being dramatic, naïve, or hyperbolic when I say that the Wizards could have beaten the Golden State Warriors on the 16th. I respect the fact that the Warriors are the reigning NBA champions, but it’s hard to overlook their issues (mostly injuries and difficulty winning away games).
Monte Morris had an overall decent game and got a double-double (17p/10a/4r), Kuzma got a double-double and made a statement halfcourt shot (16p/5a/11r), Avdija shot pretty well from his left side, and Coach Unseld made meaningful adjustments between the first and second halves.
Unfortunately, none of this was enough to combat the Wizards’ inexplicably bad defense, poor three-point shooting across the board, constant turnovers, and a dormant young core. Foul trouble was also an issue, which is unsurprising when guarding Stephen Curry.
The next game on January 18 saw a fully healthy roster, a rare sight for the Wizards. The last time this roster was seen together was three days later, for Hachimura’s last game as a Wizard. The Wizards traded Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks on January 23. Nunn made his debut as a Wizard two days later when the team defeated the Houston Rockets 108-103.
It was the second night of a back-to-back for the Wizards and, coincidentally, Kuzma’s second 30-plus point performance in two days (33p/2a/9r). It was also the second double-double for Avdija in two days (10p/3a/10r). Nunn put up decent numbers on the stat sheet (12p/4a/4r) and was a key piece in maintaining momentum in the game.
No disrespect to the Houston Rockets, but the Wizards started the game looking like they were going to lose, and that’s hard to accept. Maybe it was fatigue or a flareup of an injury, but Beal didn’t perform. He turned the ball over for the first time five minutes into the game and turned the ball over in the clutch, which frustrates Wizards fans to no end. Most of the Big Three, in fact, just seemed tired, and there were a lot of needless fouls and missed layups.
Before I note, again, what the Wizards need to improve going into February, I want to highlight the January 31 win against the San Antonio Spurs. The Wizards defeated the Spurs in San Antonio for the first time since the late 1990s, in part thanks to a career-high 25 points from Avdija.
Avdija (9) has been given the nickname “Turbo” by his teammates | Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images
As far as trends go, I’m definitely noticing the impact of injuries on the Wizards’ roster. The team is deep enough that injuries can be mostly worked around, and Gafford, Avdija, and Corey Kispert have been great as roles and rotations change. Still, long-term success for this team is going to depend on availability.
At the same time, rushing players back from injury will only make things more difficult. For example, Beal’s return from injury on January 3 was too early and resulted in more missed games. And as usual, the team needs to keep limiting fouls and turnovers.
My hope is that in my next monthly recap, I don’t have to point out again that the Wizards frequently lose control of the basketball.
