ANALYSIS/OPINION
The last time we saw these Washington Wizards was 21 months ago, when Paul Pierce’s game-tying three-pointer was waved off in Game 6 of the 2015 Eastern Conference semifinals, eliminating the Wizards in a 94-91 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
It was a painful but promising loss, with visions of good times ahead. It seemed as if Washington was one broken John Wall hand from facing LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals — the first trip there for this franchise since 1979 (next time someone wants to criticize Wizards fans for lack of support, trot that piece of knowledge out for them).
It seems like that happened decades ago.
The Wizards have finally climbed back to that level of promise — evidenced, again, by the team’s gritty performance in a losing effort, this one Monday night’s dramatic 140-135 overtime defeat at the hands of James and the Cavaliers at the Verizon Center.
Everyone seems to be very pleased about that game, despite the Wizards losing, because of the promise of a better day. Washington has been playing the best basketball in the NBA of late, with a 17-game home court winning streak before Monday night’s contest and a 30-21 record — a long and impressive climb from the 7-13 hole they were in two months ago.
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“That was definitely a test and a battle for us, and I think we did a tremendous job of handling it,” said Bradley Beal, basking in the glow of defeat.
“Everything we’ve been doing, playing team basketball, moving the ball, knocking down big shots, competing on both ends of the floor and having a lot of heart … we showed that again tonight and I hope a lot of people respect that,” John Wall said.
So it is about respect again. You would have thought this franchise had gotten past that nearly two years ago in that conference semifinals series against Atlanta. But no, it’s back to respect and tests and handling battles.
This team has one of the best backcourts in the NBA in Wall and Beal, and, in a backcourt era of basketball, they should be this competitive, this good, like they were nearly two years ago in those playoffs. But they seem to have squandered that growth, and it has taken this long for them to get back to this level of competitive NBA play.
Things can change quickly.
Two years ago, Wall had the biggest wallet in the locker room, with his $80 million contact. Now Beal, who signed a $128 million max deal in July, has the biggest wallet.
Two years ago, this is what the coach of the Wizards said.
“We just have to keep knocking on that door. We are going to knock it down.”
The coach who said that, Randy Wittman, following Washington’s game six loss to Atlanta in 2015, has since been shown the door.
But that was the thinking 21 months ago. The Wizards were close. They had gotten past the losing with respect phase of franchise development.
Now they’re back.
The core of this team is good enough to get beyond that and compete with anyone on any night in the Eastern Conference — yes, even Cleveland, as they showed Monday night. But in a grueling, second-round playoff series?
Remember, Washington went on this run because they changed their plans to bring both of their prize guards along slowly this season, Wall and Beal, both coming back from injuries.
Wall, coming off surgeries on both knees, started the season on a game restriction, then a minutes restriction, but that went by the wayside after their 7-13 start and the fear of losing the season before Christmas. Wall is averaging 36.5 minutes per game, seventh in the league.
And we all know about the fragility of Beal, averaging 34.5 minutes per game so far this season in 47 games. He played in 55 games, starting 35, last season and 63 (59 starts) the year before.
Combine that workload with the lack of a bench — hamstrung in part by the organization’s failure to have its own NBA D League team to develop support players — and you will be asking a lot of the team’s two core players come playoff time.
You can’t win the NBA playoffs by losing. Apparently, though, you can win respect on a Monday night in February in Washington by losing.
“We’re respectable,” Kelly Oubre said. “You have to respect us because we are going to come and we’re going to fight every night … if we are going to compete with the defending champions like that, then we can compete with anybody. We just have to move forward from here and put this in the past.”
The past. Yeah.
• Thom Loverro hosts his weekly podcast “Cigars & Curveballs” Wednesdays available on iTunes and Google Play.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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