Sure, most of the attention goes to Russell Westbrook making his Wizards debut. But serious basketball people know the truth: this was the Thomas Bryant revenge game.

In the previous preseason game, Detroit Pistons cheap-shot artist Blake Griffin flung Bryant to the ground in a pointless and gratuitously violent foul. Bryant lost composure and went after Griffin, and was so mad he pushed a ref away and got slapped with a $45,000 fine. Along the way, Griffin teammate Mason Plumlee called Bryant a name (easily discernible to lip readers) and then Griffin and Plumlee giggled to each other secure in their toughness — and the wall of players and refs between them and Bryant.

It’s only preseason. The game doesn’t matter. Regardless, last night Bryant went out and took them apart — 22 points on 12 shots and 7 rebounds. Plus an offensive rebound and putback dunk on Plumlee.

If I was working with the Pistons, I’d be at least a little worried about their ability to score. The Wizards were the league’s worst defensive team last season and they throttled Detroit tonight, holding them to a .483 effective field goal percentage, forcing 20 turnovers, and keeping them off the free throw line and the offensive glass.

The Wizards offense mostly cooked when they had their rotation guys on the floor. Their efficiency waned when they turned to the bench.

Overall, the Wizards have to be encouraged by the preseason performance of Deni Avdija and Troy Brown Jr. — especially Avdija. The rookie will take some lumps this season, but he’s confident, skilled and big, which is a good combination.

For Brown, this was another productive game. He’s more assured taking threes — on one possession, he had an open 20-footer, which he turned down to dribble back to three-point line (which he knocked down).

Last night was Westbrook’s debut and he did Westbrook things — 8 points on 10 shots (0-3 from three-point range) to go with 7 rebounds and 3 assists in just 17 minutes. His shot selection will strain credulity and test patience at times, but his outlandish production and positive leadership are welcome additions to the team.

Four Factors

Below are the four factors that decide who wins and loses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounding percentage), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made divided by field goal attempts).

Player Production Average

Below are Player Production Average (PPA) results from last night’s game. PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, play-making, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls). PPA is pace neutral and accounts for defense. In PPA, 100 is average and higher is better.

The table below is sorted by each player’s total contributions for the game.