The Washington Wizards visited the Charlotte Hornets with a better than theoretical chance of emerging with a win, and they kept things close for much of the night. And then, they got avalanched in the final period to lose, 126-109.
While the Wizards led by as much as 10 early in the second quarter, it never felt like they were causing the scoring differential. The Hornets got open looks, which they missed. Charlotte was just 3-14 (21.4%) from three in the first quarter, but the Wizards defense was causing little
stress. It was a case of the other guy just missing, and it felt like the tide would turn when the shots dropped at a more normal rate.
In the second quarter, Charlotte began to assert itself, primarily due the offensive rebounding exploits of Moussa Diabate. He finished the game with a career-high 18 rebounds, 8 on the offensive glass.
In the first half, the Wizards allowed the Hornets an offensive rating (points scored per possession x 100) of 129 — an astounding number considering Charlotte’s poor shooting (48.1% effective field goal percentage). The Wizards made that possible by giving up so many offensive rebounds and their (continued) inability to force turnovers. Charlotte had just two in the first half.
And no, this isn’t a case where the Hornets are really good at avoiding turnovers. They entered the game 26th in offensive turnover percentage. To put it simply, Wizards defenders do not stress opposing ball handlers in any meaningful way.
After their poor start from the floor, the Hornets ended the game with an eFG% of 55.9%. The Wizards? Just 46.4%. Washington still managed above average efficiency because they grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and committed just six turnovers.
Still, the inability to defend effectively and gather defensive boards send the Wizards to another defeat and lowers their record to 5-23.
Thoughts & Observations
- One positive moment in the first half was some defensive communication between Kyshawn George and Marvin Bagley III. Charlotte ran an action that had the two inverted — Bagley defending on the wing and George in the middle. They called it out to each other and switched seamlessly while Charlotte was getting organized out top.
- Not so positive: the Wizards switched to zone late in the first quarter, and the Hornets shredded it.
- Bilal Coulibaly led the Wizards with 11 points in the first half on 4-8 shooting. He’d finish with 14 points, including 3-9 from three.
- The Hornets clearly were willing to concede threes to Coulibaly.
- Washington’s highlight of the night: Alex Sarr got switched onto Knueppel and was immediately administered a blow-by drive. Knueppel got to the rim and laid it up only for Sarr to block the shot off the backboard. It should be on the NBA’s Top 10 Plays rundown tomorrow.
- Add Dell Curry to the (long) list of opposing team commentators who marvel at the Wizards’ shot selection — and not in a good way.
Stats and maybe a few more tidbits from the notebook coming in a few minutes.
