(Photo: Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Bucks 110
Wizards 103
January 6, 2018 | Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.
Coming into Saturday night, the Washington Wizards had won four straight and were 9-3 since John Wall’s return from double knee injections. For the second straight night, the Wizards went cold in the fourth quarter and this time it cost them. After losing a double-digit lead to end the first half, Washington and Milwaukee went toe to toe for 13 lead changes and 10 ties in the second half, but the Bucks made the shots down the stretch to secure the victory.
House of Guards Inefficient
Both John Wall and Bradley Beal played 42 minutes, extremely high given they were playing on a wacky back-to-back that meant each probably did not go to sleep until around 5 a.m. on Saturday, but given that the team has three days before their next game they will be alright. The duo combined for 36 points on 12 of 38 (31.6 percent) shooting and 2 of 9 from deep. Granted Wall did have a season-high 16 assists, but they were taking ill-advised midrange jump shots, 8 were missed, and not finishing in the paint as at times it looked like they were more concerned with drawing fouls than scoring the basket. Without Otto Porter Jr. (right hip strain), Washington needed more from their other two max players.
Starting Bigs Efficient
Marcin Gortat went for 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting with 7 rebounds in 33 minutes, while Markieff Morris went for 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting with 10 rebounds in 32 minutes. Five of Gortat’s seven baskets were the result of Wall’s passes, while Morris had his fourth straight game with double-digit rebounds, a career-best. Morris and Gortat had a total of just four shot attempts in the fourth quarter, which was a mistake.
Another Game With Fourth Quarter Struggles
It was not as bad as Friday night’s 2 of 15 shooting performance against the Grizzlies, but the Wizards were 5 of 19 (26.3 percent) from the field in the final frame on Saturday. Wall and Beal combined for 1 of 12 shooting from the field in the quarter. Too much isolation basketball and tentative attacks of the basket cost the Wizards. Scott Brooks along with his starting backcourt attributed the downer to the NBA being a make or miss lead, but they also took exception with the officiating. “We feel like a lot of calls weren't called,” Beal said. “They [Milwaukee] got a lucky break, on a bad call,” a usual calm mannered Brooks said.
“I’m not saying that’s the reason [lack of calls] why we lost, we had opportunities to win the game,” Wall prefaced. “Don’t let what the refs call… Reason why we lost. They made bigger shots. When it was a tie ball game, when we were down one, they made bigger shots. We’re used to it by now, I pay no mind to it. I mean, I had four free throws in the first half and then I finally got two more at the end of the game. I’m not a person who shoots all jump shots, I’m a person who attacks the basket.”
Rebounding Played A Surprise Role
Coming into the game, the Bucks averaged just 38.4 rebounds per game, the worst average in the NBA this season. Go figure that they would outrebound the Wizards 45-34. Ten offensive rebounds led to 13 second chance points for Milwaukee. The Bucks are now 11-3 when winning the rebounding battle, while the Wizards are now 6-15 when losing the battle on the glass. Scott Brooks did not fault his team for a lack of effort, possibly because of the back-to-back, but their second fewest rebounds in a game, only better than the 31 they had in Utah, to the worst team in the league is suspect.
Matthew Dellavedova: Public Enemy Number One
By now you know that with 7:24 left in the game, Dellavedova pulled Beal down from around his neck trying to stop a fast break. Beal, understandably, took exception to it and got into the scrappy guard’s face. Wall also had words for the Bucks’ backup (because Beal could have gotten a concussion as a result of the reckless foul) before Dellavedova was ejected from the game with a Flagrant 2 foul. Here is the video and what all involved had to say.
Scott Brooks: “Those plays should never happen.”
John Wall: “Whatever their team can say, other people can vouch for him. To me, I always thought he was just a dirty player. … When it comes to doing dirty plays [undercutting, etc.], I have no respect for him.”
“It's a difference,” Wall started between playing aggressively hard and dirty. “That's not the type of play you do and then just stand there like nothing happened … If we do that to somebody, their team is going to react the same exact way. He's known for under cutting guys, trying to box them out and stuff like that. I give no credit for that … I give credit for him for being a hard player, that's hard-nosed. One of the old-school type of players that play very physical. I give him credit for that. But when it comes to doing dirty plays, I have no respect for it.”
“There is no place in the game for that,” Beal said. “I don’t care, there is a difference between making a play on the ball and wrapping your arms around somebody’s neck. It was what it was. He fouled me and got thrown out for it. I don’t really have an opinion about it. One thing I didn’t like was how the ref went after me instead of trying to control him. I have a right to react the way I did.”
“[John] Wall threw the ball up to [Bradley] Beal and I tried to run him off the three,” Dellavedova said trying to cover himself. “He decides to drive it, so I tried to hold him up and he slipped because he went down. I was just trying to hold him to prevent him from getting the and-one, and then he just went to the ground. … “I wasn’t expecting that. I thought it was a foul, or maybe a flagrant one, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that. But that’s what they called. It is what it is.”