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Tonight shaped up to be a very, very ugly game for a number of reasons. First and most obviously, the Wizards' offense has been struggling for quite some time. And of course, things only get worse when Bradley Beal sits out, as he did tonight.. Plus, since the start of January, the Bucks have been one of the NBA's defenses and they had an amped crowd ready to celebrate Bob Dandrige's number retirement. Considering all those factors, you shouldn't be surprised the Wizards only scored 85 points tonight. Honestly, given how the Wizards started tonight, we're almost impressed.
Surprisingly, the Wizards got a nice shot in the arm from Garrett Temple and Ramon Sessions, who combined for 21 points. Paul Pierce also came through with 14 points. Yes, it took 15 shots for him to get there, but we appreciate the moxie on a night like this.
What's concerning is how badly John Wall played tonight. He's been battling through injuries for quite some time now and the compounding effect of all those minutes is really starting to break him down. Wall was 3-14 from the field, only attempted five free throws and only had six assists tonight. The spring in his step has been replaced with a rusted coil that makes an awful screeching sound.
Maybe a single night off wouldn't make Wall brand new, but it's fair to ask if it might have been better to give Wall the night off on a game the Wizards didn't have much chance of winning tonight anyways. If nothing else, a night off might have been refreshing for Wall's mind and spirit. He does not look like he's enjoying basketball at all right now.
@adammcginnis He looks super happy here pic.twitter.com/haw0Tz0uga
— WIZ SPURTS (@Wiz_Spurtin) March 8, 2015
Say what you want about trying to fix management, coaching, or the roster, but none of it matters if they can't fix what's up with John Wall right now.