FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Beal stars, Hachimura and Wagner return, and Wizards lose anyway

Beal stars, Hachimura and Wagner return, and Wizards lose anyway

WASHINGTON - In his past seven games, Bradley Beal has been one of the top scorers in the NBA. His binge continued Monday night, when he became one of the top three scorers in Washington Wizards franchise history. And yet, even paired with the long-awaited returns of rookie forward Rui Hachimura and reserve forward Moritz Wagner, his best wasn't enough to mask his team's struggling defense.

It didn't matter that the Golden State Warriors own the fewest wins in the league and have the NBA's worst offensive rating. The Wizards still could not stop their visitors from scoring in bunches and piling on in a 125-117 Warriors win inside Capital One Arena.

Beal's 43-point performance, in which he shot perfectly from the free throw line and efficiently everywhere else, turned out to be empty on yet another long night in this Wizards season of blah defensive basketball. 

Six players for the Warriors (12-39) scored in double digits, and fans grabbed their coats and turned toward the exits after Glenn Robinson's tip-in pushed Golden State's lead to 10 with 46 seconds left. Beal, who spent the ensuing timeout leaning over and holding his knees, remained on the sideline and watched the Warriors make the last of their 15 three-pointers on their next possession.

During the postgame news conference, the first question posed to Coach Scott Brooks was about the defense. Brooks blew a raspberry into the microphone and tried to explain.

"It wasn't there," Brooks said. "We didn't come out to play with the right mind-set, and [Golden State] plays hard. They're a lot like us. They play hard. But tonight we didn't have the right mind-set. I don't know what we were thinking, but we weren't thinking the right things."

Beal has averaged 38.8 points per game since Jan. 22, which ranks behind only Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, the hottest player in the league, during that stretch. On Monday, Beal passed John Wall for third on the all-time franchise scoring list as he shot 15 for 30 and hit all 10 of his free throws. Only Elvin Hayes and Jeff Malone remain ahead of him. Still, the Wizards couldn't make his night worthwhile and dropped to 17-32.

Hachimura returned from a seven-week absence necessitated by a groin injury suffered Dec. 16, and in 26 minutes he finished with 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds. That total, however, wasn't nearly enough to keep Golden State off the glass, and the Warriors outrebounded the Wizards 44-35.

Wagner, who last played Dec. 10 because of an ankle injury, chipped in eight points and two rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.

"It was fun," Wagner said about playing for the first time in nearly two months. "I would have loved to win, but it felt good."

The Warriors have also been set back by injuries this season but on a larger scale. Without their injured all-star backcourt - Klay Thompson has missed all 51 games with a torn ACL, and Steph Curry has sat out 46 with a broken hand - Golden State has gone from a perennial Finals participant to the league's cellar.

Once known for its all-powerful starting lineup that included Kevin Durant (now with the Brooklyn Nets) and Draymond Green, Golden State has used 22 different starting lineups and earned 12 wins.

Against the Wizards, though, guys named Alec Burks (30 points) and Damion Lee (19 points) looked like the Splash Bros. Robinson added 22 points and seven assists. Eric Paschall turned into a one-man vortex for rebounds and finished with 10 off the bench, including four offensive boards on one possession. And Green, the last champion standing for the Warriors, played his role of all-around handyman, filling in the holes wherever necessary for 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

"We still got to go out and compete," Beal said. "They're almost like the Spurs, just plug-and-play. No matter who's out there, they're taking advantage of the opportunities that they're given. You've got to tip your hat off to them."

Over its previous two games, Washington had found defensive momentum in wins over the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets. The improvement proved temporary when Washington allowed the Warriors, who were also without former all-star D'Angelo Russell because of a quad injury, to score 40 points in the first quarter. Burks played a little more than five minutes off the bench in the quarter but kept the scoreboard moving with 13 points.

To counter Golden State, Beal made four of his first six shots and continued the efficient shooting throughout the half (shooting 7 for 14 for 21 points at the break). One motivated scorer could not cover up the defensive breakdowns, but that didn't stop Beal from trying.

Beal poured in eight points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, and his personal scoring binge helped trim the Warriors' lead. When Beal drilled his third three-pointer of the game with 4:23 remaining, Washington trailed only by five. But Golden State didn't fold, and Beal's big night turned into a dud.

"Brad obviously had a great game, but Rui came in [for his] first game in a couple of months, [and] I thought he played like you're supposed to play," Brooks said. "We didn't have enough guys tonight. That was disappointing. Normally that has not been the case."

 

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