Keys to the Palace: Most starters remain in form while the bench gets inconsistent

The Wizards were 2-1 last week. They started with an overtime loss to the Cavaliers last Monday, but followed it up with two straight wins against the Nets last Wednesday on the road and the Pacers last Friday.

Even though they lost one game, the Wizards still played very well in that contest. Really, it was a freak shot by LeBron James that turned an almost-certain win into an overtime loss.

Anyway, let’s get to the virtual hardware:

Keys to the Palace

Bradley Beal, 30.7 ppg, 4.7 apg, 4.7 rpg

The Panda’s best performance was a 16 of 18 shooting performance against the Cavs where he made six three point shots, dished 8 assists and didn’t commit a single turnover. I feel a little bad that that performance didn’t get Washington a win.

He remained consistent the rest of the week, so he earns another Key. To be honest, Beal is a candidate for Player of the Week.

John Wall, 23.7 ppg, 12.7 apg

Wall remains in key territory as he remained an elite assister and scorer. He shot only 37.3 percent from the field last week thanks to a 7 of 24 shooting performance against the Knicks, but the he dished 12 or more assists each game.

And here’s another notable stat for Wall’s consistency: he has scored 20 or more points in each of the Wizards’ last six games. He also dished 10 or more assists in each of the Wizards’ last seven games!

Markieff Morris, 20.5 ppg, 8 rpg, 2.5 apg

Morris missed last Wednesday’s game against the Nets, and his absence was felt. When he was playing, he still made a big impact during the Cavs and Pacers games. His performance against Indy (26 point and 10 rebounds) was his best:

Along with this missed dunk that had a lucky bounce:

Marcin Gortat, 14.7 ppg, 12.7 rpg

Even with Ian Mahinmi back, Gortat still had double doubles scoring and rebounding. All in all, he’s playing as well as we would have hoped all season long.

Guest Passes

Otto Porter, 17.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg

Otto continued his run of efficiency in the aggregate. However, his shooting efficiency went down as the week went on. His best scoring performance was a 25 point, 8 of 11 shooting performance against the Cavaliers.

Jason Smith, 8.7 ppg, 5 rpg

Smith’s best performance was a 15 poing, 8 rebound performance against the Nets last Wednesday. He also made this nice block on Cavs guard Kay Felder last Monday:

Ian Mahinmi, 1 ppg, 4 rpg

Mahinmi played sparingly in each of the Wizards’ last two games. Though his scoring was effectively non-existent, he was a consistent rebounder. Though I’m tempted to lock him out, it’s also his first games back from major injuries.

Lockouts

Trey Burke, 4.7 ppg, 2.7 apg

The backup point guard didn’t play much in the Cavs game, but he saw more opportunities in the Nets and Pacers games. His dished five assists in the Pacers game, but the Wizards were outscored by 14 points when he was on the floor. For the week, he also had a -12.6 individual rating differential.

Tomas Satoransky, 2 ppg, 1.7 apg

Unfortunately, Satoransky was net negative last week when he was on the court (-6.0). He averaged 13.5 minutes a night, but still seems averse to shooting the ball.

Kelly Oubre, 4 ppg, 4.7 rpg

Oubre’s best performance was an 11 point 7 rebound, 4 assist performance against the Cavs. But he was ineffective the rest of the week as he failed to make one shot for the rest of the week. The Wizards need to count on him for a bucket, and he just didn’t do that.

Not enough time for an evaluation

Marcus Thornton, Daniel Ochefu, Sheldon McClellan, and Danuel House did not play last week. House specifically was assigned to the Delaware 87ers as he returns from injury.