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Wizards vs. Knicks Summer League recap: Washington loses another one, 82-69

Washington lost another Summer League game as the Knicks' guards ran them out of the building.

By Thomas Pruitt
USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Wizards lost another Summer League game, as they fell to the New York Knicks, 82-69. The main culprits? Poor guard play and sloppy defense. The Knicks repeatedly got to the basket for layups and dunks, largely due to poor rotations and communication by Washington. Meanwhile, no one on the Wizards was able to get all the way to the basket in order to score or create an open shot for a teammate. Sure, it's only Summer League, but Otto Porter in particular should have done better than this.

There's another game and thus another chance for redemption tomorrow. Here are a few thoughts on today's performances.

Jan Vesely was the first or second option almost for almost every possession and looked good in that role. He made a couple of very slick passes, ran the floor and even drew a double team late in the fourth quarter. He's shown some ability and could still be decent if he can play with the level of confidence he displayed today. He also looked far more comfortable on the perimeter than in the paint, even if his jumper appears weaker than his back to the basket game.

Vesely was bad on the other end of the court. Even against weaker Summer League bigs he was getting outmuscled in the paint. Don't let the ten rebounds attributed to him in the box score fool you. If Jan had boxed out properly and been a little bit stronger he could have had fifteen. New York also got a bunch of layups, something that, with Jan's length and quickness, should not have happened.

Otto Porter did his best Ariza impression, bothering shooters with his length, deflecting passes and running to the rim for layups. Unfortunately, he's still struggling to create good shots. A typical possession went like this: Porter catches the ball near the three point line, makes a play to the basket, gets his man off balance, then steps back and takes a fadeway from about fifteen feet out. That's just not an efficient way to score points and he's going to need to be more aggressive. Evan Turner does the same thing and it completely kills the 76ers.

Glen Rice, Jr. can score in so many ways. Threes, mid-range shots, at the basket and even a hook shot in the post, the guy flashed it all today. He was all over the place trying to snag rebounds and steals and his man beat him as a result a few times. All in all, his performance was a mixed bag, but his motor seems legit.

Chris Singleton was good again. He took and missed quite a few mid-range shots but did a good job of getting to the line (eight for eight from the line), took care of business on the glass and played competent defense. This was the kind of game that you'd expect from a guy with his athleticism and size every day, not just in Summer League. It's also worth noting that he had to fire up a couple of bad shots due to shot clock issues, so his 2-9 shooting wasn't as bad as it may seem.Washington lost another Summer League game as the Knicks' guards ran them out of the building.

The rest of the roster was pretty unremarkable, with the exception of Marquez Haynes. Starting in place of Sundiata Gaines, Haynes did a much better job of bringing the ball up the court and getting it to the appropriate main roster guy. He's probably not a keeper, but he'll probably start at point guard tomorrow as a result of his play.

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