Wizards fall to Bulls as road woes continue originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Wizards lost to the Chicago Bulls 115-111 on Wednesday night. Here are five takeaways from what went down…
Road woes continue
The struggle continues for the Washington Wizards, as they lost a close one to the Bulls in Chicago on Wednesday, making it seven losses in their last eight games. The Wizards are going through their most difficult stretch of the season so far, with losses piling up and a slew of injuries compounding their problems.
This was the first game since Bradley Beal was determined to be out at least a week with a hamstring strain. They sure could have used him as the Bulls narrowly held off the Wizards thanks to a barrage of threes in the fourth quarter by Zach LaVine and then a string of clutch baskets by DeMar DeRozan.
The Wizards have now lost six straight games on the road going back to the night before Thanksgiving. They are 3-9 for the season away from Capital One Arena.
Points off turnovers
The Wizards came into this game averaging the third-fewest turnovers and the fourth-lowest turnover percentage, but they had some issues protecting the ball against Chicago. The Bulls are one of the best teams at turning teams over and converting them into points on the other end, ranking third in both categories. They were able to force the Wizards into some uncharacteristic mistakes, as Washington committed 18 turnovers, about five more than they average for the season (13.3).
The Bulls actually had more turnovers than the Wizards did with 19. But Chicago was much more successful capitalizing on mistakes, as they had 28 points off turnovers compared to 15 for the Wizards. Surely, the Wizards were aware the Bulls average 20.2 points off turnovers, but they were unable to take away one of their biggest strengths.
Kuz and KP led the offense
With Beal out, it was no surprise to see Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis dial up the aggression on the offensive end. They both started attacking early, combining for 21 field goal attempts in the first half and 35 for the game. Kuzma drove into the lane over and over, attempting a bunch of shots in traffic. Porzingis let it fly from all over and also got to the line, hitting 12 of his 16 attempts.
The Bulls, however, were able to keep both guys from shooting efficiently. Kuzma had 21 points on 8-for-18 shooting, while Porzingis had 28 points while shooting 8-for-17 overall and 0-for-6 from deep. Porzingis appeared to tweak something in the first quarter and was hobbling up and down the court for a few plays before a timeout was called. He ended up staying in there and looked fine, as the Wizards averted a crisis with Beal already down. Porzingis and Kuzma have an opportunity to establish a good rhythm together as the primary scoring options over the next several games.
Rotation changes
Beal wasn’t the only member of the Wizards’ rotation missing for this game as Rui Hachimura remains out due to a bone bruise in his right ankle. He has now missed the WIzards’ last nine games. Delon Wright also remains sidelined with a hamstring issue. He has been out for 21 games now, so a quarter of the season. Given both Beal and Wright were missing, the Wizards could have used rookie first-round pick Johnny Davis, but he is unavailable due to health and safety protocols.
With so many players out of the mix, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. used an all-hands-on-deck strategy against the Bulls. He played all 10 players who suited up, though he relied heavily on his starters following two off days since the last game. Still, there were some unusual lineups like one featuring both Daniel Gafford and Taj Gibson in the frontcourt alongside Kuzma. That was a jumbo lineup we likely won’t see often this year.
More Gafford with Porzingis
It is now three straight games we have seen Gafford and Porzingis play on the court together, so it might be becoming a thing. Another sign that it’s here to stay is that this time they were playing an opponent not known for their paint scoring. It was understandable to go to that pairing when they were facing the Hornets and Lakers, both top-10 paint offenses, but the Bulls entered this game 23rd in the league in the category.
When the Wizards went to that look in the third quarter, it was not like the Bulls were killing them in the paint, either. The Wizards actually won the paint-scoring battle, 60-52. The Wizards were down, so maybe Unseld Jr. just wanted to shake things up. There were also the aforementioned lineup constraints caused by injuries. But seeing Gafford and Porzingis out there together on Wednesday seemed like an indication it has some lasting power.
