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In their latest must-have game, Wizards fall to Jazz, 114-93 In their latest must-have game, Wizards fall to Jazz, 114-93
(about 2 hours later)
SALT LAKE CITY — John Wall was slumped on a courtside seat at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Friday morning, the Washington Wizards’ shoot-around having just concluded, when he assessed the magnitude of his team’s game against the Utah Jazz slated to tip off several hours later. SALT LAKE CITY — John Wall was slumped on a courtside seat at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Friday morning, his Washington Wizards’ shoot-around having just concluded, when he assessed the magnitude of his team’s game against the Utah Jazz slated to tip a few hours later.
“This is the most important game of the season,” Wall said.“This is the most important game of the season,” Wall said.
The clock is ticking on their season, but for 36 minutes of their 114-93 loss, the Wizards didn’t perform like their season was on the line. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter, after they found themselves down by 22 points following a disastrous third period, that a sense of urgency surfaced. They trimmed the deficit to 11 with 5 minutes 51 seconds remaining. It was too late. The end is looming and it was time to make up ground in their quest for a third straight postseason berth with 18 games remaining. But for 36 minutes of their 114-93 loss, the Wizards didn’t function like their season was on the brink of failure. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter, after they found themselves down by 22 points following a disastrous third period, that they awoke from a baffling slumber. They trimmed the deficit to 11 with 5 minutes 51 seconds remaining. It was too late to avoid a fourth straight loss.
The Jazz outscored Washington 19-9 down the stretch behind guard Shelvin Mack, a former Wizards second-round pick who was cut twice by the team. Mack, a 6-foot-3 Butler product, scored a career-high 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting against his former team. “We are a desperate team and we didn’t play desperate,” Wizards forward Jared Dudley said. “We played like we’re already in the playoffs, not having to fight and claw, scratch, bite to do everything you can to win a game.”
Mack outperformed Wall, who tallied 24 points and nine assists but had just nine points through three quarters. Markieff Morris added 16 points in 29 minutes. The Jazz outscored Washington 19-9 down the stretch to clinch the victory behind the play of guard Shelvin Mack, a former Wizards second-round pick who was cut twice by the team. Mack, a 6-foot-3 Butler product, scored a career-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting against his former employer, feasting on the Wizards’ combination of lackadaisical defense and a pick-and-roll coverage he solved and exploited.
Earlier in the day, Marcin Gortat insisted that the Wizards (30-34) needed to outrebound the Jazz to win. The Jazz, one of the few teams left in the NBA to start two traditional big men, entered the evening sixth in rebound percentage. [Porter has found himself on the bench in recent fourth quarters]
“We were denying so much and trying to chase,” Wall said, referring to Washington’s pick-and-roll defensive scheme. “They used it against us.”
The only silver lining the defeat — or blown opportunity, depending on perspective — was that the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, the two teams directly above the Wizards (30-34) in the Eastern Conference standings, also lost Friday. The eighth-place Pistons are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Wizards for the final playoff berth. The Bulls are sandwiched between the two teams, two games above Washington. The Wizards host both teams in Washington next week.
The Jazz (30-35), who also had been sputtering in a battle for the final postseason spot in the Western Conference, ended a three-game home losing steak and pulled within three games of the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks for the two final playoff berths. They did it with an uncharacteristic offensive performance.
[The Lakers can finally move on from Kobe Bryant]
Utah was averaging a league-low 91.3 points in its previous eight games, which spawned a dismal 1-7 stretch, and ranked 28th in the NBA in scoring on the season. But on Friday the Jazz shot 57 percent from the field, 9 of 16 from three-point range, and capitalized on 28 Wizards fouls, including 14 in the third quarter, to go 29 of 38 from the free-throw line to equal the most points they’ve scored in regulation this season. The output was posted despite recording just 15 assists, evidence of their ability to take defenders off the dribble whenever they pleased.
“That might have to be a record,” Wizards Coach Randy Wittman said.
Mack outperformed Wall, who tallied 24 points and nine assists but had just nine points through three quarters. Markieff Morris added 16 points in 29 minutes, and Marcin Gortat recorded eight points and four rebounds in just 19 minutes because of foul trouble.
Washington, which didn’t have second-leading scorer Bradley Beal for the second straight game because of a sprained pelvis, shot 44 percent from the field. Its bench combined to go 12 of 37 (32.4 percent) as Ramon Sessions went 4 of 12 and Marcus Thornton, signed for the rest of the season on Wednesday, went 1 of 9 with two points and played crucial fourth-quarter minutes in his Wizards debut.
“The second unit, throughout the whole year, we’ve done a bad job of ball movement and it was just terrible tonight,” said Dudley, who had two points on three shots in 20 minutes off the bench. “We shoot terrible shots and that can hurt your defense because you can’t sit back. I just thought our shot selection, our ball movement, we’re not good enough to have one guy, pick-and-roll, shoot the ball every time. We have to move the ball from side-to-side.”
Earlier in the day, Gortat insisted that the Wizards needed to outrebound the Jazz to win. The Jazz, one of the few teams left in the NBA to start two traditional big men, entered the game sixth in the league rebound percentage.
“If we ain’t going to rebound, we ain’t going to win,” Gortat said.“If we ain’t going to rebound, we ain’t going to win,” Gortat said.
The objective was not met. Utah punished its guests on the glass, 42-29, and no Wizard had more than four rebounds. Meanwhile, the Jazz stymied the Wizards’ strength. Washington entered the night second in the NBA in fast-break points per game with 18.8 per game, but they scored just six against the Jazz. The objective was not met. Utah punished its guests on the glass, 42-29, and no Wizard recorded more than four rebounds. Meanwhile, the Jazz stymied the Wizards’ strength. Washington entered the night second in the NBA in fast-break points at 18.8 per game, but they scored just six against the Jazz and none until the fourth quarter.
[Wizards’ Otto Porter has been benched in recent fourth quarters] “We didn’t come out with any sense of urgency tonight,” Wittman said. “ I don’t know how we can do that with 18 games left. We talk about the same things over and over again.”
The only silver lining the defeat, Washington’s fourth straight, was that the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls, the two teams directly above them in the Eastern Conference standings, also lost. The eighth-place Pistons are 2 1/2 games ahead of Washington for the final playoff berth. The Bulls are sandwiched between the two teams, two games above the Wizards.
The Jazz (30-35), also in a battle for the final postseason spot in its conference, ended a three-game home losing steak and pulled within three games of the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks for the two final berths in the Western Conference.
The teams spent the first few minutes exchanging runs. First, the Wizards jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The Jazz responded with an 8-0 spurt and Washington fired back with another 7-0 spree. Not to be outdone, Utah completed the swapping with the biggest run of them all, a 12-0 stretch that launched the Jazz ahead 20-14 with 5:13 remaining in the first quarter.
The back and forth halted, but the points didn’t. The Wizards netted 29 in the first quarter on 47.6 percent shooting, including 4 of 7 from three-point range, and were a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line after missing 12 free throws Tuesday in Portland. But the Jazz, who entered the night averaging an NBA-low 91.3 points in their previous eight games, was even hotter. Utah shot 52.4 percent from the field and was 6 of 7 from beyond the arc en route to a 32-point quarter.
[Lakers can finally move on from Kobe Bryant]
Both teams cooled in the second quarter. Ramon Sessions’s three-pointer with 7:12 left in the period pulled Washington within one, but neither team scored a point for the next 2:14 until Derrick Favors’s offensive rebound and putback over Wall. From there, Mack added another five points before the halftime to a complete a 10-point quarter.
Meanwhile, Marcus Thornton, who signed with the Wizards on Wednesday for the remainder of the season, went 0 for 5 in 10 minutes to begin his debut.
The Jazz went to halftime leading 56-48.
An uptick in defensive intensity from the Wizards was palpable in the third quarter, but it only produced a flood of fouls. After recording six personal fouls in the first half, Washington accrued nine in the first 6:16 of the third quarter. Gortat picked up two in two minutes to hike his game tally to four and get replaced by Nene.
But Nene couldn’t avoid foul trouble either. He accumulated four fouls in less than seven minutes to force Coach Randy Wittman to insert J.J. Hickson, the third-string center who had logged 18 minutes since signing with the Wizards on Feb. 25.
The Wizards were already unraveling when Hickson checked in, trailing 79-65 with 3:32 left in the period. Things only worsened. With a lineup of Sessions, Thornton, Otto Porter Jr., Jared Dudley, and Hickson to close the quarter, the Wizards went to the fourth down 88-68. They were outscored 32-20 in the third quarter as the Jazz went 11 of 17 from the free throw line in the period. It could’ve been worse: Rodney Hood’s three-pointer at the horn was ruled good but then erased. It was about the only sequence that went right for Washington.