Clippers beat Wizards 105-100 in scrimmage

It was a bit like “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” where the games are made up and the points don’t matter. Still, for what it’s worth, the Wizards lost their second straight scrimmage in the Orlando Bubble, this time a come-from-ahead 105-100 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers.

After falling behind in the second quarter, the Wizards roared back and took what seemed to be control in the third quarter. Their biggest lead was 12 midway through the third and the Clippers looked lethargic and out of sorts. That’s when Doc Rivers sent in the bench unit, and Washington’s lead dwindled.

The level of play was fairly poor throughout. Both teams struggled on offense. The Wizards managed an effective field goal percentage of just 39.6% while the Clippers shot 56.0%, but Washington stayed in the game by crashing the offensive glass and capitalizing on a plus-five turnover differential.

The game, of course, means nothing in the standings. This was to help guys get back in game shape and acclimate to the bizarre atmosphere. Wizards performances were a mixed bag of mostly not very good. A few observations:

• Rui Hachimura — Looked excellent in the first half and awful in the second. He seems more willing to drive than he was in The Before Times, but he’s still settling for too many pullups and midrange shots. He had several solid defensive possessions against Kawhi Leonard but fell asleep on cuts and switches in the second half.
• Isaac Bonga — Might’ve been the team’s best player tonight. He attacked a couple times with dribble penetration, including one drive where he created contact with Paul George and finished the and-one.
• Thomas Bryant — Decent game, which included 3-7 shooting from three-point range. He had a very good defensive possession after getting switched onto Leonard, forcing a long two, which Leonard missed. He also got overpowered at the rim a few times. He needs to get stronger.
• Jerome Robinson — Looked kinda okay at times in the first half. The second half was rough. He’s almost a decent defender, but he can’t stay on the floor if he doesn’t hit shots.
• Moritz Wagner — Awful performance. Just 1-7 shooting, plus a pair of turnovers. Wagner’s only defensive skill seems to be drawing charges, which would be good if he didn’t flop six times a game trying to get the call (no, that’s not an actual stat). Forcing the other team to miss shots is what makes a good defense in the NBA. Wagner needs to challenge shots and cut back on the flopping.
• Admiral Schofield — He reportedly lost weight, but he still looks stiff and slow. If he works hard and devotes himself to great defense and hitting threes, he can carve out a role. I don’t see an NBA player, however.
• Jarrod Uthoff — Rebounded well, showed off some flashy ball handling skills, and made a couple nice passes that would have been assists if teammates hadn’t blown easy shots. It’d be nice for him to get more minutes and to get more aggressive looking for his shot,.

Below are scores for tonight’s game from my metric, Player Production Average (PPA). PPA is an overall production metric that rewards players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, assisting, defending) and debits them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, fouls, bad defense). In PPA, 100 is average and higher is better.