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The Washington Wizards lost to the Golden State Warriors 107-76 on Monday to finish their West Coast trip 1-3. After a relatively even first half where they led at times, things turned really ugly after that.
The key moment in this loss was the third quarter, when they allowed the Dubs to score 29 points. Out of those points, 15 of them came from five three point shots, three of which were from Stephen Curry, who scored 24 points to lead all scorers. Here's their shot chart:
Sure this shot chart isn't video game territory, like the UConn women's basketball team's 70.2% shooting performance for an entire game against the St. Francis (Brooklyn) Terriers last Saturday in an 89-33 first round NCAA Tournament win. But the point is that the Warriors shot decently, in particular from the three point line. I'll revisit this St. Francis team in a bit.
On the other hand, the Wizards made just one shot out of 18 attempts in that same timeframe. Kevin Seraphin made Washington's lone shot in those 12 minutes, with one minute left to go in the period. That's just how bad this third quarter was.
If you want to see how just how bad 1 of 18 shooting looks like, here you go, but look at your own risk:
(*averts gaze*)
It's one thing for a team to be blown out in a game or to have an inefficient shooting night. Sometimes a team is going to shoot 25% or so for a quarter.
But LESS THAN SIX PERCENT? THAT IS PATHETIC! WHERE WAS THE WIZARDS' PRIDE TONIGHT?!
Sure, we can say that the Wizards don't have the talent the Warriors do. But shooting less than six percent is basically throwing in the towel in a professional basketball game!
Unlike the St. Francis (Brooklyn) women's basketball team, who play in a group of over 300 Division I college programs and aren't ranked, the Wizards play in a 30-team league and are one of the better squads in the NBA's Eastern Conference. Furthermore, the Terriers definitely played their hearts out, even though they probably knew that they would lose to UConn anyway. I just can't say that the Wizards played the same way, when they shot just 5.6% in a quarter, AND MADE ONLY SIX OUT OF TEN FREE THROWS!
I'm incensed about the effort in the third quarter, and you should be too. We should demand a better effort and performance out of this team on the offensive end, even when the shots aren't falling at a high rate. Hopefully things will improve on Wednesday against the Pacers at home.