The Washington Wizards opened their season with a 122-102 loss against the defending champions Boston Celtics.
Jordan Poole had a great opening night, finishing with 26 points and four assists. He also tied his career high with four steals and shot 9-of-17 in the contest.
The Wizards missed their veteran point guard, Malcolm Brogdon, who is still out due to a hand injury he suffered before the preseason. First-round pick Bub Carrington started at point guard instead of Jordan Poole. Poole played point guard at the start of the preseason, but today, he slid to the two-spot.
Number two overall pick Alexandre Sarr started at center. With Kyle Kuzma at power forward and last year’s first-round pick Bilal Coulibaly the starting lineup was the youngest in the Washington Wizards’ franchise history, at an average age of 22 and six months.
In the first half, the Wizards looked like they could stick with the Celtics, only trailing by 10. But in the second half, everything came crashing down on the defensive end for the Wizards, and the Celtics had their way of scoring the ball.
Going up against the reigning NBA champions, the Wizards still showed some positives from the loss. And here are four takeaways from the loss.
Poole fit comfortably at shooting guard
Jordan Poole came out firing in the first quarter, as the guard scored 17 of the Wizards 32 points in the quarter. He made five three-pointers and scored on a coast-to-coast layup in transition. He played just as well on the defensive end with two steals.
He finished with 26 points, making 6-of-11 from three. Poole looked improved defensively on and off the ball, racking up four steals that tied his career high.
Poole can initiate the offense as a point guard, but he looked more comfortable with a green light scoring. That first quarter was reminiscent of his days with the Golden State Warriors. Hopefully, he continues to be a threat, scoring the ball and opening up his teammates.
The ball movement on offense improved significantly
On offense the Wizards have moved the ball a lot, and found a lot of open looks in the paint. In the second quarter they came out a time out and went on a 15-8 run. Scoring the majority of their points from excellent ball movement, and finishes in the paint.
In transition they got the ball out very quickly, to get a lot of good open shots.
Despite not having success in the second half putting the ball in the basket, the Wizards still continued to move the ball. They just couldn’t execute the possessions.
Wizards struggled mightily on defense
The Celtics exploited the Wizards on screens. The Wizards couldn’t fight through the picks, and their defensive rotation wasn’t fast enough to get a strong contest. The screens freed up the Celtics for open looks from the three. The Celtics made 17 threes, many of which were wide open.
The Wizards’ slow rotations off traps also handicapped the defense.
Jayson Tatum also carved up the Wizards defense, getting all the looks he wanted. The Celtics’ frontman finished with 26 points. All-Star teammate Jaylen Brown finished with 25 points.
Tatum and Brown commanded the Wizards’ attention on defense. Washington couldn’t keep either at bay, which led to their teammates getting great looks. The Celtics thrived on driving through the lane, forcing Washington to collapse.
Despite showing great effort, the Wizards were still short of maintaining the Celtics offense, and need to improve on their defensive awareness.
Wizards need to get Alex Sarr more involved in the offense
This year’s No. 2 overall pick had a rough debut. Sarr scored a mere two points on 1-of-7 shooting.
The ball rarely ever swung Sarr’s way in the first half, only getting four touches in the first half.
When he touched the basketball, his shot selection didn’t mirror his game before entering the NBA. In Australia, he primarily scored by moving off the ball and cutting to the basket.
During his NBA debut Thursday, he got tasked with many pick-and-pops. Five of his seven shot attempts were three. He missed all five from beyond the arc.
Whether by design or not, Sarr played out of position throughout the night. As a seven-footer, taking more three than two is not ideal. Could his shot selection be a byproduct of his needing to develop a stronger postgame for the NBA?
Sarr’s first and only points of his NBA career came on a putback dunk from a missed layup by Kyle Kuzma. On the ensuing defensive possession, he was able to hold Jaylen Brown one-on-one, forcing a missed three-pointer from the Celtics star.
While his offense struggled, Sarr displayed a lot of effort on the defense. He looked much improved from the Summer League and preseason. He had active hands and stayed light on his feet.
This is a season of development in Washington. Their next game will be another daunting challenge, a home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. The Wizards will debut their new Statement uniforms.
