Thanks to big game from Aldridge, Wizards fall to Spurs 132-119

Highlight Store via Flickr

NBA

Thanks to big game from Aldridge, Wizards fall to Spurs 132-119

Twenty years ago the NBA was a lot different place then it is today. Michael Jordan had just retired, the league had just gone through a messy work stoppage, the salary cap was a third of what it is today. That was also the last time that the Washington Wizards won a game in San Antonio.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 30 points, nine rebounds, and six assist as he dominated the Wizards with an assortment of turn around jumpers. The Spurs didn’t have their leading scorer DeMar DeRozan and yet still managed to score 132 points. This was mostly due to the bench performance. The trio of Davis Bertans, Patty Mills, and Marco Belinelli combined for 49 points, connecting on 11 three pointers.

Hot Shooting Continues

Bradley Beal led the Wizards with 21 points. Thomas Satoransky continued his strong play, almost logging a triple-double with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assist. The Wizards started out slowly, going down ten after the first quarter. They responded with their highest scoring second quarter with 43 points to cut the lead at half to one.

However, the second half was another story, as the Wizards fell flat in the third only scoring 17 points. The Wizards had a hard time stopping the Spurs from 3-point range. The NBA’s leading three point shooter, Bertans, continued his hot shooting going 5-8 from downtown. As a result, the Spurs went on to hit 47% from deep connecting on 16 threes. The Spurs offense was not the problem, but the defense had its lapses.

“We had trouble keeping up with Bertans,” said coach Scott Brooks, “He was all over the floor, we couldn’t catch him on his threes, he kept going by us on his dribbles, he got everything that he wanted. And though he was a big part of it.”

Coaching Adjustments

Coach Gregg Popovich called a very early timeout, a few seconds into the game. This was after a defense lapse that led to an open Thomas Bryant dunk. He was quick on the trigger the rest of the night, calling timeouts after every defensive mistake. This coaching strategy set the tone for the ball club, and the second half defensive effort was the reason for victory.

On the Wizards side, Brooks knew he had a tough task ahead of him against the Spurs, especially with all the injuries that they are dealing with. Not only are they missing three guys on long term injuries (Wall, Morris, Howard). They were missing their primary backups in the frountcourt, Sam Decker and Ian Mahinmi, due to ailments. He had to rely on a very small 8-man unit to compete with the Spurs big-men like Aldridge and Pau Gasol.

“There is no adjustment”, said Beal ,”You just got to play, we were already short-handed, and now even more short-handed. We just have to go with what we got, we gonna play small, that’s all we got, so we got to fight on the boards better then we have been, and continue to move and push the ball. That’s all we can do.”

 

What’s Next?

The Wizards currently sit in tenth place in the Eastern Conference. They are 2.5 games behind the Charlotte Hornets for the eight seed. Their next five games come against all eastern opponents, so the next few weeks will definitely set the tone for the rest of the season.

The decision whether to continue to compete with the current team, or make some moves plan for the next season must be made. They were given a $6.8 million Disabled Player Exemption for John Wall’s injury and have until March 11 to use it. That could be used to add a player, or help facilitate a trade. Its really up for the Wizards front office to decide what they are, buyers or sellers.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @T101Sports @T101SportsNBA

Follow us on YouTube:

Subscribe to get the latest news from TSJ and the TSJ 101 Sports TV YouTube channel! Play and win weekly at Thrive Fantasy!

Photo Credit

Highlight Store via Flickr