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One thing that has been plaguing the Washington Wizards in their last several games has been inconsistent defensive play. Getting out-rebounded, having defensive mismatches and exhibiting poor timing on defense has set the team back in games which should and could have been won. The previous three games Washington played were all lost by 15 points or more and the Wizards allowed an average of 119 points. Fortunately that was not the case Saturday as the team did what it had to do to beat the Orlando Magic 108-99 and break its three-game losing streak.
To combat the defensive issues, Washington’s coaches focused the last several practices on handling them… and it showed.
Saturday’s game began with the momentum in the Magic’s favor and they went up quickly to a 9-3 start. However, the Wizards hung in there and kept the game close.
Wizards’ power forward Kris Humphries had a breakout performance in the game. Early in the second quarter, he made a strong baseline drive to lay the ball in, bringing the game to a 37–37 tie.
Washington went on to start the second half holding nothing back, getting up to a 13-4 run early. There was one play in the series during which small forward Otto Porter intercepted a Magic pass and got the ball to center Marcin Gortat. Gortat passed off to point guard John Wall who hit a quick bounce pass to shooting guard Garrett Temple. The guard then laid it up for the score.
It was this type of up-tempo play that got almost every player on the Wizards involved and disoriented the Magic defense. This type of play became one of Washington’s strongest attributes. If the team continues to play in this manner, it will be difficult for teams to slow it down, as evidenced by the defensive struggles of the Magic in the second quarter.
The game began to really get tight in the fourth quarter with Orlando coming back to take the lead. The Magic’s small forward Tobias Harris threw up a floater which landed in the basket and put his team up by four points, 90–86.
The star of the late game for the Wizards was Humphries. He hit three-pointer after three-pointer and Orlando could not find a way to slow him down. The Wizards’ first score of the game was a three-pointer by Humphries and he continued this aggressive play to the basket and the smooth controlled jump shots throughout the game.
In the fourth quarter with 3:20 left to play, Humphries hit his fourth three-pointer of the night, hustled back on defense to make a monster block which thwarted the Magic from scoring and got the ball back in the hands of his team.
With a 1:05 left to play in the game, Humphries hit his fifth three-pointer and put the Wizards up by five points. The 2004 first-round draft pick ended the game with a season-high 23 total points and a career–high five three-pointers.
Humphries has made 15 three-pointers in his career (five of which came in last night). He really stepped up and helped the team in a major way, particularly with teammate and shooting guard Bradley Beal not playing due to lingering left shoulder issues. Beal is currently averaging 22 points per game, so it was great to see players like Temple and Humphries stepping up in his absence.
Temple finished with a career-high 18 points. Wall finished with 15 points and 11 assists. Gortat ended up with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
After allowing an average of 119 points in the last three losses, the Wizards held the Magic to only 99 points, an obvious indication that the new focus on defense is universally on the minds of the whole team.
The win puts the team at a 4-4 record on the season and they now sit at ninth place in the Eastern conference.
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