The Washington Wizards: Who’s Starting and Who’s Starring?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Wednesday, March 16, 2022, in the District of Columbia
The Washington Wizards can put in the work and put up a fight, and they could emerge as a prominent team in the Eastern Conference as early as next season. Even after losing to Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, with the final score being 127-109, the Wizards proved two things:
That they have the talent and potential to be serious contenders.
That their talent isn’t limited to their starting five.
Photo from @WashWizards on Twitter
Jokić, by the way, lived up to his reputation as a quadruple NBA All-Star and the MVP of the 2020-21 season. He scored 29 points, got 13 rebounds, and made eight assists in his 26 minutes on the court, and he moved effortlessly across the court at Capital One Arena.
It just looked all night like the Wizards couldn’t keep up, even with impressive performances by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Corey Kispert on the starting five. Caldwell-Pope scored 12 points, got four rebounds, and made an assist in his 27 minutes of playing time. Kispert was on the court for 34 minutes, scoring 15 points and getting three rebounds.
As for Raul Neto, Kyle Kuzma, and Kristaps Porzingis, the remainder of Washington’s starting five, their performances just weren’t at the level I expected.
Kuzma collected a total of nine rebounds last night in his 27 minutes on the court, but he was 3-10 and scored only six points. He was fun to watch on the court, but I would just rate his performance as fine. Porzingis, who played only his second home game with the Wizards on Wednesday, was in for 23 minutes, scored 16 points, had seven rebounds, and made an assist. Even though Porzingis scored more points than Kispert, he wasn’t really producing until the third quarter began. Maybe he’s still getting a sense of himself on the team, but what I saw from Porzingis last night doesn’t give me confidence that he’ll emerge as a star player in Washington.
Rui Hachimura and Deni Avdija, however, played incredibly last night. Avdija scored 19 points, got seven rebounds, and made three assists in his 28 minutes on the court. He rallied the fans and earned cheers from around the stadium, as did Hachimura, who also got seven rebounds and three assists. In his 27 minutes on the court, Hachimura scored 12 points.
Hachimura and Avdija are consistent and could be valuable members of the Wizards’ starting lineup at the close of this season and going into next year. They brought hope to a game that felt like a complete blowout at times, and they’re reasons to keep an eye out for the Wizards.
Washington is away against the Knicks (29-40) tomorrow night at 7:30 and return to Capital One Arena to host the Lakers (29-40) on Saturday at 8pm.
