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Wizards cough up 30 point lead, beat the Pistons anyway

Detroit Pistons v Washington Wizards
Wizards guard Bradley Beal missed the second half after taking a hard fall against the Pistons.
Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

The Wizards sprinted out a 30-point lead, let the Pistons win the third quarter 34-11, and then recovered in the fourth quarter to coast to a comfortable 106-92 win.

It was a pretty miserable game enlivened by the high-flying play of Daniel Gafford, who was making his first appearance in a Wizards uniform after being acquired at the trade deadline.

How bad was it?

All-Star guard Bradley Beal hurt his hip taking a hard fall while committing an offensive foul and sat the entire second half. We’ll see if he has to miss additional time.

Jerome Robinson played 18 second-half minutes, took five shots, and failed to score.

Russell Westbrook had 18 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, and his overall performance rated below average. That tends to happen when a guy shoots 8-20 from the floor and commits 6 turnovers.

Rui Hachimura threw down a terrific dunk on Isaiah Stewart, but managed just 14 points and 6 rebounds in 35 minutes.

Positives for the Wizards: Robin Lopez and Gafford were productive. Deni Avdija shot poorly but contributed 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and zero turnovers or fouls. Avoiding fouls is a good thing — he entered the game averaging a high 5.8 per 100 team possessions.

And of course, the biggest positive: despite getting ripped in that third quarter, the Wizards pulled it together in the fourth quarter and rolled to a comfortable win.

The Wizards will continue their journey on Monday when they play the Indiana Pacers. Game time is at 7 p.m. ET.

Four Factors

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

I’ve simplified them a bit. While the factors are usually presented as percentages, that’s more useful over a full season. In a single game, the raw numbers in each category are easier to understand.

PACE is possessions per 48 minutes.

Four Factors: Pistons at Wizards

FOUR FACTORS PISTONS WIZARDS
FOUR FACTORS PISTONS WIZARDS
EFG 0.447 0.533
OREB 7 7
TOV 19 18
FTM 16 9
PACE 104
ORTG 88 102

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 a per possession stat that includes accounting for defense and role. In PPA, 100 is average and higher is better.

PPA is a per possession stat. The table below is sorted by each player’s total contributions for the game.

POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.

Wizards PPA

WIZARDS MIN POSS PPA +/-
WIZARDS MIN POSS PPA +/-
Bradley Beal 21 45 306 18
Robin Lopez 20 42 257 25
Daniel Gafford 14 29 368 -3
Deni Avdija 27 58 143 2
Russell Westbrook 35 76 68 18
Alex Len 15 32 85 -8
Garrison Mathews 31 68 36 -2
Rui Hachimura 35 76 21 23
Raul Neto 20 42 20 8
Cassius Winston 1 2 -1211 0
Isaac Bonga 4 9 -282 -2
Jerome Robinson 18 39 -185 -5

Pistons PPA

PISTONS MIN POSS PPA +/-
PISTONS MIN POSS PPA +/-
Wayne Ellington 26 57 231 -8
Saben Lee 24 53 161 -4
Isaiah Stewart 21 46 145 3
Mason Plumlee 27 57 44 -17
Deividas Sirvydis 1 3 504 2
Jerami Grant 19 42 34 -22
Tyler Cook 16 35 -25 -10
Cory Joseph 29 64 -21 6
Sekou Doumbouya 5 12 -131 -8
Frank Jackson 16 35 -64 5
Josh Jackson 22 48 -63 -18
Saddiq Bey 32 69 -62 9