Three observations from Wizards game vs 76ers
The Washington Wizards beat the Philadephia 76ers 120 to 115. Here are three observations from the game.
1. John Wall and Bradley Beal outscored the entire 76ers team in the 3rd quarter. The guards went off against a talented but young team. From the 10:30 mark in the third quarter, when they game was tied, to the 5:28 mark of the quarter, Wall and Beal scored the next fourteen points for Washington, and for the entire quarter they scored twenty-five points combined. All but two of Wall’s FG’s made were inside the paint, while Beal scored most of his points from shooting deep, including two 3-pointers.
2. Wizards bench
After starting forward, Jason Smith, went down with a shoulder injury, the bench had to step up on all fronts, and they didn’t disappoint. Washington’s bench outscored Philadelphia’s bench, 40-25, and was led by forward Kelly Oubre Jr., who played thirty-two minutes, and scored fourteen points (5-10 FG), collected eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks. If Smith can’t go in the next game, I would expect Oubre to start at small forward. Also, veteran shooting guard, Jodie Meeks, had a solid debut for Washington, as he scored fourteen points, including going 7-7 from the free throw line.
3. Free throws
Washington’s victory was helped out by several key factors, the team had more offensive rebounds (16-11), they had nearly a two-to-one comparison in turnovers (76ers-17 Wizards-9), but the main reason why the Wizards are 1-0 was at the charity stripe. While the 76ers were 14-19 from the free throw line, the Wizards were 30-38 in free throw shooting, and Wall and Beal were a combined 20-25. This is a good sign for Washington, since Wall and Beal will be fouled a lot during the season, and Washington will have to rely on them to make free throws, especially during crunch time late in the game, if the score is close.
