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The Wizards pulled out a win against the Sacramento Kings who appear to be reeling a bit after losing Marvin Bagley due to an injury

The highlights of the game included

- 7 players in double figures
- Satoransky with his first technical foul
- Forced Hield not to catch the ball who endered the game as the 4th best shooter; only converted 1 out 9 of his 3 pointers
- Jabari Parker id his poor man's LeBron impression (18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers)
- Chasson Randle more aggressive after 3 DNPs
- Bobby Portis 17 points and 13 rebounds
- Beal with 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists (didn't pull an Andray Blatche)

Washington now plays Orlando who they are 2-1 this season. For Orlando and their derived fan base, this is a must win game for them to keep their playoff game alive. The Wizard tankers also think this game is a must-lose, then again every game remaining in the 2019 campaign appears to be a must lose. Although it must be stated that Washington could keep its playoff hopes alive which would give Jabari Parker the opportunity to extract revenge on the Bucks...

Did anyone just notice the camera shift to Wall on the bench where he was eating a whole thing of popcorn?

Am I the only one annoyed seeing Leonsis sitting on the bench ?

Gotta say Parker is starting to make me a fan. And Brooks deserves some credit. Love the way Brown plays - so intelligent for a teenager in the NBA; just wish he could shoot.

Portis really needs to block out better and keep Vucevic off the offensive boards. Orlando's got 12 offensive boards, and we're 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter. Jeff Green's just not a PF.

I like this Jonathan Issac kid. He's gonna be pretty good in time.

Dat2U wrote:I like this Jonathan Issac kid. He's gonna be pretty good in time.

We love him here in Orlando. Or at least most of us do (as evidenced by my avatar/sig, lol). Some people were getting on him but we barely involved him in the offense early on. He does all of the little things, just needs to get a little stronger and refined with his offense.

Ruzious wrote:Gotta say Parker is starting to make me a fan. And Brooks deserves some credit. Love the way Brown plays - so intelligent for a teenager in the NBA; just wish he could shoot.

Parker is playing himself into a new contract, with another team. I'd like to keep him as a designated scorer off the bench. But he's probably going to get a offer from someone else that will be more than we want to spend.

Same with Bryant.

Gotta give Ernie some credit for Thomas Bryant. It's not at all the type of move he usually makes, and he's turned out to be quite a find.

This was a win for the bench. Beal was the ONLY starter scoring over 8 points. Parker, Bryant, Randle and Brown combined for 59 points and 24 rebounds. Sato's stats look terrible, but he was the fascillitator on a lot of the key 4th quarter baskets. Great team defense down the stretch. Bryant was a beast, and Randle made Orlando pay when they didn't guard him on the 3 point line. Awful games by Portis, Green, and Ariza.

Well, this is disappointing. The starters did their job, but unfortunately the bench let us down tonight.

Boo.

More disappointing is game threads used to have 20+ pages. This isn’t just on our board, this site has died.

Another disappointing win

SUPERBALLMAN wrote:Gotta give Ernie some credit for Thomas Bryant. It's not at all the type of move he usually makes, and he's turned out to be quite a find.

Absolutely -- but go read the Bryant thread. I explain how this happened -- & I am absolutely sure I've got it right on this.

In short, Pelinka couldn't keep him, wanted him far away & out of the Western Conference, & called Ernie directly to tell him to take the kid.

This Wizards' win loss record:

- Before Wall's injury: 13-23
- Since Wall has been out: 16-16
- With Wall out but Sato and Beal both in uniform: 16-14
- Since the Porter trade: 7-7

And the wins since the Porter trade have not been due solely to playing tanking teams. They have two wins against Chicago and Cleveland, but the other wins have been over mediocre teams that are still trying: Sacramento, Charlotte, Orlando, Minnesota, Dallas and Brooklyn. (Dallas may not be trying anymore. Not sure.) And even the losses have been respectable. Their net point differential since the Porter trade is +1.1

It's also noteworthy that the team has not been relying heavily on hired mercenaries like Ariza and Green lately. They are competing because of Beal, Sato, Parker, Portis and Bryant - guys who presumably may be around here going forward. It's plausible that the team can be a .500ish team next year, only around a much younger core instead of Morris and Wall/Howard/Gortat.

payitforward wrote:

SUPERBALLMAN wrote:Gotta give Ernie some credit for Thomas Bryant. It's not at all the type of move he usually makes, and he's turned out to be quite a find.

Absolutely -- but go read the Bryant thread. I explain how this happened -- & I am absolutely sure I've got it right on this.

In short, Pelinka couldn't keep him, wanted him far away & out of the Western Conference, & called Ernie directly to tell him to take the kid.

Seems like Pelinka is helping out the league a lot. Last season, he entered the offseason with Randle, Lopez, Bryant, and Zubac and now are all helping other teams.

nate33 wrote:This Wizards' win loss record:

- Before Wall's injury: 13-23
- Since Wall has been out: 16-16
- With Wall out but Sato and Beal both in uniform: 16-14
- Since the Porter trade: 7-7

And the wins since the Porter trade have not been due solely to playing tanking teams. They have two wins against Chicago and Cleveland, but the other wins have been over mediocre teams that are still trying: Sacramento, Charlotte, Orlando, Minnesota, Dallas and Brooklyn. (Dallas may not be trying anymore. Not sure.) And even the losses have been respectable. Their net point differential since the Porter trade is +1.1

It's also noteworthy that the team has not been relying heavily on hired mercenaries like Ariza and Green lately. They are competing because of Beal, Sato, Parker, Portis and Bryant - guys who presumably may be around here going forward. It's plausible that the team can be a .500ish team next year, only around a much younger core instead of Morris and Wall/Howard/Gortat.

A full year of this current team would have gotten you guys in the playoffs in the east this year. The Wiz would have not been a top tier playoff team but definitely a playoff team. You guys just dug yourself into a big hole at the start of the season and couldn't dig yourselves out.

The playoffs might still be possible but those close losses to teams such as Char and Minn hurt.