Monday’s loss against the league-worst Golden State Warriors for the Washington Wizards unfolded in a different manner than the typical defeat.
It was one of the rare instances this season that Washington didn’t play with effort consistently, Wizards coach Scott Brooks said.
The amount of points Washington gave up, though, was all too familiar.
In the Wizards’ 125-117 loss to the Warriors, Washington surrendered at least 125 points for the 19th time — the most of any team this season, four more than any other team in the NBA. They’ve given up more than 120 points in 25 of 49 games. Bump that to 130 points, and the Wizards’ defense has done it 12 times. They’ve also given up six 140-point games and four 150-point games — all league-highs.
Whether the lack of defense is effort-related or not, the Wizards are on pace to be historically bad.
With a defensive rating of 117 points allowed per 100 possessions, the Wizards trail only last season’s Cleveland Cavaliers (117.6) as the worst defensive team in NBA history. In terms of pure point totals, opponents have scored 120.8 points per game against Washington — the worst mark since the 1990-91 Denver Nuggets, and the 16th-most in league history.
Every time the Wizards look like they’re about to turn corner defensively, they regress. Last week, for instance, the Wizards gave up 152 and 151 points to the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively — after having a 112.8 rating over their previous 10 games. That latter number still wasn’t elite, but it ranked 21st in that span.
Monday’s drubbing against Golden State also occurred following two solid performances against the Brooklyn Nets and the Charlotte Hornets.
“We were getting better defensively,” Brooks said last week. “Getting guys back (from injury), we’re going to be whole for a lot of games and we have some time to practice. I expect, and I know, our guys are going to get better in the next couple of weeks.”
There are reasons the Wizards struggle on defense, but one of the biggest factors has to be the lack of a rim-protecting center, which is why the team is reportedly interested in a deal for Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson. They’re also undersized at point guard with Isaiah Thomas (5-foot-9) and Ish Smith (6 feet) often unable to keep players in front of them. None of their wings (Troy Brown Jr., Issac Bonga, Jordan McRae) would be mistaken for a shutdown defender.
On top of that, the Wizards’ roster is the 14th youngest in the league. Younger teams are inexperienced and typically don’t know the ins and outs of schemes. Of those 14, only four — Boston at three, Indiana at eight, Chicago at 10, Oklahoma City at 11 and Denver at 12 — have an above-average defense.
The Wizards are also sending opponents to the foul line to the tune of 26.6 free throws per game, second-most in the league. Washington has to learn how to defend without fouling, guard Bradley Beal said.
“I think a lot of that has to do with it, just keeping guys in front of us. … I think every team we play is very good at verticality and they do a good job of not putting us on the line, or at least not giving up and-1s. We’re very bad at that and we have to at least wrap up guys and take hard fouls to make sure no buckets are scored,” Beal said.
“Sometimes we just have to avoid fouling, period.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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