Bradley Beal scores 31 points, Wizards hold off DeMarcus Cousins, Kings

Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins summed the game up with truth and precision:

“It was just a nasty game from start to finish,” Cousins said.

That it was. By halftime, the Kings and their host, the still-finding-themselves Washington Wizards, had compiled more fouls and turnovers than made shots. It was that kind of ugly on Monday night in the Verizon Center. After overtime, everything appeared satisfactory to the Wizards following a 101-95 win, just their sixth of the season.

Three points to consider:

1. A nice night for Kelly Oubre. It took 2:36 for Oubre to be pulled out of last Saturday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs. He had turned his head and Kyle Anderson, a man nicknamed “Slow-mo”, cut backdoor for a layup. Oubre wasn’t back over midcourt before Wizards coach Scott Brooks had looked down the bench and yelled for Otto Porter to go into the game. Monday delivered a grand improvement and model for Oubre who scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds in almost 24 minutes on the floor, putting together his first career double-double. Brooks explained pregame that Oubre needed to understand he could not spend a couple minutes getting into the flow of the game. Instead, he needed to come off the bench prepared and ambitious. He did that Monday night. Oubre took three shots. He made two. He moved the ball and did not force drives. Brooks explained afterward that Oubre’s focus needs to be three-pronged: Rebound, run and defend. For a night, he did. The results were efficient and productive, two things he has not been this season.

2. Marcin Gortat has to Boogie by himself. Brooks decided the Wizards were going to handle Cousins’ wide range of offensive talent by leaving Gortat against Cousins by himself. It worked. Sort of. Cousins had a monstrous night: 36 points and 20 rebounds. But, he needed 34 shots to get there. He also turned the ball over five times, missed seven of his 10 free throws and was 1-for-6 from behind the 3-point line (despite shooting 40.8 percent from there this season). Gortat, as has been his preference during home games this year, left the locker room without talking to reporters. So, here’s Brooks’ explanation of their strategy against Cousins, whom Markieff Morris referred to as the best scoring big man in the NBA: “We wanted to make sure the other guys didn’t have a good game or All-Star type of game. They can. Rudy Gay’s a guy averaging 20 and he can score 40 any given night. So, we wanted to really stay at home. We wanted to make his touches difficult to catch and push him out from the spots he wanted. I thought Jason [Smith] and [Gortat] did a good job with that. Then, make his job tough. Like I said, he missed 18 shots. He made a lot of them, but we still did a good job of guarding him.” Brooks summed up some of the shots Cousins made by saying, “Four or five were just like, ’Are you kidding me?’” That’s often said when Cousins plays, for better or worse.

3. Can’t shake the injuries. Backup center Ian Mahinmi did not play because his right knee was sore following his season debut Saturday night against the San Antonio Spurs. Mahinmi missed six weeks because of surgery on his left knee. He finally entered a game Saturday, when he played 14 minutes. Brooks mentioned they were being cautious by giving Mahinmi the night off. Still, this is another ding in the ever-fluctuating rotation. Also, John Wall, who finished with the wild stat line of 19 points, 11 assists, 11 turnovers, eight rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot, took a knock to his knee early in the game. Wall stayed in the game and played a team-leading 42:32. Brooks said Wall won’t practice Tuesday before the team embarks on a three-game road trip that begins Wednesday in Oklahoma City.