John Wall was a running floater away from having a perfect shooting night on Monday night. The Washington Wizards point guard shot an impressive 8-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-4 from three-point range in a 110-92 win over the woeful Sacramento Kings.
Wall finished with 21 points and nine assists. He kept the Kings defenders off-balance whenever they were forced to guard him.
He was on fire from the start of the game, draining a three pointer from the wing for the Wizards’ first points of the game. George Hill dared him to shoot, and it’s not hard to see why given Wall’s struggles from three throughout his career. Hill again fell victim to daring Wall to shoot a three, and the four-time All-Star happily obliged with his second trey of the game.
With two treys in the bank, the Kings tightened up their coverage on him and that played right into Wall’s hands. He drove to the lane, using his unmatched speed with his first step. Wall went 4-of-4 in the lane primarily using drives to the lane and one awesome back down on De’Aaron Fox that left the rookie in a blender.
The @WashWizards win their 3rd straight game behind 21 PTS & 9 AST from John Wall! pic.twitter.com/JFGFwA49K6
— NBA (@NBA) November 14, 2017
But, it was his ability to shoot and knock down the three pointers with confidence that was most impressive. His third trey came in transition as Otto Porter dumped a pass to him on the wing. His fourth and final three again came in transition. This time, former teammate Garrett Temple was caught on his heels trying to negate the drive of Wall. Wall saw it and pulled up to drain it.
Wall must love playing the Kings. In their first meeting earlier this season, Wall made 5-of-6 threes. With Monday’s impressive performance, he shot 9-of-10 (90%) from three against Sacramento. He is 5-of-32 (15.6%) from behind the arc versus everyone else. But for now, Washington and Wall will enjoy the moment. The 88.8 percent he shot from the field in Monday’s win, is a career-best for him.
Unfortunately, the Wizards won’t face the Kings again this season — unless by some wild miracle both teams make the NBA Finals (Wizards could, Sacramento is NOT). Hopefully, Wall can use the same confidence he shot Monday night throughout the season on a consistent basis. If he can improve his outside shooting, that will open up the defensive coverage on him even more so as displayed against the Kings.
