David Richard-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire
The shorthanded Wizards managed to eke out their first preseason win, beating the Cavaliers 99-95.
The Washington Wizards were missing a few more bodies tonight, but that didn't stop them from winning a tight game in Cleveland 99-95. Playing without John Wall, Nene, Emeka Okafor, Trevor Booker, and Chris Singleton, the Wizards also lost Kevin Seraphin midway through the first quarter to a calf strain. The health of pretty much the entire Wizards frontcourt has made it difficult for the team to find a suitable replacement for Wall at point guard, but there was still a lot to take away from the team's first win of the preseason.
THE GOOD
Bradley Beal: This kid just continues to impress and impress. He can create contact, he can catch and shoot, he can DUNK, and he can initiate an offense. He shot 50% tonight and finished with 14 points.
Jan Vesely: After a quick two fouls in the first quarter, Vesely finally started to look comfortable on both ends of the floor. He finished a couple of looks at the rim (he finished 5-5 with 13 points!), and he also managed to do the dirty work that doesn't show up on the stat sheet: a couple of pass deflections and a great drawn charge in the 4th on Tyler Zeller. Sort of bizarre to think that he was the longest-tenured active big on the Wizards tonight.
Shelvin Mack and AJ Price: Between the two of them, they had 16 points, 4 assists, and 0 turnovers. They're no Wall, but they're looking decent enough to serve as replacements until he gets back.
Jordan Crawford: 14 points and 7 assists! Nice to see he's helping take on Wall's passing load as well.
Brian Cook: Sometimes you see Cook shoot threes all the time, and it makes you wonder what he's thinking. But tonight, he hit a huge three with a minute to go in the 4th.
THE BAD
Martell Webster: He started the game, but he lacked a lot of the energy he had been bringing off the bench the previous two games. He finished the game with 7 points and a game-low +/- of -11. Yikes.
Jannero Pargo: Six turnovers. Not good.
THE MEH
Shavlik Randolph: He was definitely trying to carve a place for himself on this roster tonight. He finished with 5 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 fouls. With all the bigs down for the count, he'll need to play a bit better to reach his goal. But his activity around the basket was a good place to start.
Trevor Ariza: He had a better game than the previous two, finishing with 7 points and 5 rebounds. But he continues to look a little lost and listless out there. Hopefully he'll get more fired up when the regular season starts.
THE MISCELLANEA
- Beal, Webster, and Pargo got the start over Crawford, Ariza, and Price
- Beal and Dion Waiters were drafted 3rd and 4th overall, respectively; both are SGs. Both got their first start tonight.
- In the first quarter, Cook cut to the basket for a quick layup, with an assist from Pargo. That was the most un-Brian Cook play ever.
- For most of the second quarter, the four bigs on the floor were Tyler Zeller, Jon Leuer, Shavlik Randolph, and Jan Vesely. Weird.
- Former Wizard and D-Leaguer Alonzo Gee continues to look like "the one that got away," especially when Trevor Ariza looks like he can't find his rhythm.
- The team ran a few 3-guard lineups tonight. Beal and Crawford were paired with Price for a stretch of time and Mack for a later stretch. Interesting to see if that will be featured during the season. I couldn't gather any conclusive results from it, but I do like it in general when Beal is on the floor.
- The second possession of the 3rd quarter featured Beal guarding Waiters. Waiters tried to thread the needle to CJ Miles under the basket, and Beal managed a nice deflection. The possession ended with Waiters chucking up an air ball as the shot clock ran out.


There are 54 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.