Daily Digits is a new daily feature we’re doing at Bullets Forever this year where we take a look at stats about the Wizards. We’ll dive into the numbers, add some context, and discuss how they affect the product on the court.

Today’s stat is the number of seconds Ian Mahinmi played in the second of Thursday’s season-opening loss to the Heat, which was...

15

If you were hoping the Wizards’ starters could buoy Mahinmi into a serviceable center until Dwight Howard gets healthy, Thursday’s performance should put an end to those dreams.

Mahinmi actually got off to a decent start. He played just under eight minutes in his first stint of the game and only picked up one foul, but after that it fell apart quickly. He returned midway through the second quarter and picked up two fouls in less than four minutes, which forced Brooks to close the half with Jason Smith at center. Then, on the first possession of the second half, he picked up his fourth foul and never returned.

His final line was nearly indistinguishable from any other stat line he’s put up in the last two years: 3 points, 2 blocks, and 4 fouls in 11 minutes and 38 seconds of action. And more importantly than all of that, his lackluster play forced Scott Brooks to close with small lineups that couldn’t keep the Heat off the glass in the final moments.