The Washington Wizards lost to the Orlando Magic 120-113 last night in an all-too-familiar script of letting go of fourth quarter leads. But there are always some positives.
With Russell Westbrook out last night due to rest, Raul Neto started in his place and scored 22 points. You can watch his highlights in the video above. His shot distribution will also make analytics gurus happy (but you also have to look at the video).
Here is Neto's shot chart from last night. pic.twitter.com/7Jid4GuEto
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) December 28, 2020
Overall, Neto shot 10-of-17 from the field, dished 5 assists and made 3 steals in 32 minutes. His shot efficiency at the rim was very good but his three point shooting wasn’t totally on point last night.
Like most of the Wizards whose name isn’t Bradley Beal, Neto didn’t get any free throw opportunities, which is interesting considering that he took so many shots at the basket. Washington only attempted 13 free throws against Orlando last night while the Magic attempted 38, making 37 of them. The foul disparity was the key that turned this game around for the Magic, as Kevin Broom noted in his “By the Numbers” series today.
Neto isn’t Westbrook, nor is he expected to be. But if and when Westbrook takes a game off, he will hold his own. While the Wizards didn’t win yesterday, his performance was still a good thing nevertheless.