The Washington Wizards lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 113-107 yesterday in their first game of the 2020-21 NBA season. While it was disappointing to see the Wizards give up 36 points in the fourth quarter, something I overlooked in the recap, it was great seeing Russell Westbrook firing on all cylinders, getting a triple double with 21 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds. In fact, he already had a triple double in the first three quarters of the game.
You can watch the highlights of Westbrook’s first Wizards game in the video above.
Westbrook’s shot chart also indicates what many of us thought about him all along regarding his weaknesses. He needs to limit his longer range shooting, though it is notabel that six of his shots were from midrange. We’ll take the made shots of course, but he still missed both of his three point attempts.
Westbrook's shot chart yesterday was ... Westbrook-ian. pic.twitter.com/oGSIlMRkQd
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) December 24, 2020
It’a also important to note that Westbrook only shot 9-of-22 or just under 41 percent after shooting 3-of-5 in the fourth quarter. He only shot 6-of-17 in the first three quarters, a shooting percentage of just 35 percent.
There is hope that a Westbrook and Beal backcourt can flourish right away. Beal scored 31 points last night of 11-of-22 shooting and 3-of-8 from the three point line. That also means that other starters will not get many shots. Thomas Bryant did get 13 attempts, but Issac Bonga and Deni Avdija had a combined five attempts last night. This distribution is going to have to change somewhat as the season goes on.
All in all, this was a good first game by Westbrook in a Wizards uniform. But next time, we need a win.