NBA scores 2016: John Wall is having a career year and the Wizards still aren’t winning

Washington’s tumble from a playoff team to a middle-of-the-pack lottery squad is bizarre, and it’s definitely not Wall’s fault.

by Tim Cato

Dec 7, 2016, 1:30 PM UTC

What more can John Wall do? His career-high 52 points wasn’t enough to prevent the Wizards from losing 124-116 to the Magic on Tuesday, adding to a trend of Wall’s stellar play not being enough for Washington.

The Wizards are 7-13 now, already 3.5 games out of the playoffs this early in the season with no real reason to believe they’ll bounce back. As is its nature, the team has dealt with a couple of health scares already this year, but nothing severe — it has had every starter available for 16 of its 20 games.

The 52-point showing was classic Wall, using his famous speed to glide around picks and explode in the fast break. Wall’s jumper was working, hitting five threes on eight attempts, and so was his inside game — just look at this gorgeous floater.

Wall’s having his best season yet, with season highs across the board, and it hasn’t mattered. He’s currently on pace to top 20 points per game for the first time in his career, averaging 22.4 points so far, and he’s shooting his best percentages ever from the field (44.7 percent), behind the arc (36.2 percent), and at the line (82.8 percent). That 52 points on 31 shots couldn’t earn the Wizards a win makes it painfully clear this isn’t Wall’s problem at all.

It’s bizarre that the Wizards are just two years removed from back-to-back runs to the East semifinals. Sure, Washington lost Paul Pierce, who opened the team up playing small forward, and sure, losing quality 3-and-D wings like Trevor Ariza and Rasual Butler didn’t help. But aside from Wall, Bradley Beal, and Marcin Gortat, the Wizards in the past two seasons really aren’t that different from the ones confidently winning two first-round series. Wall has been even better than in years past. Somehow it’s not equaling anything resembling competent basketball.

Wall has to be getting fed up. The team didn’t even get a meeting with Kevin Durant this summer after planning for his free agency for two seasons, and now the Wizards are regressing as Wall moves into the peak of his career. Wall’s in Year 3 of a five-year deal, and he was diplomatic in the wake of DeMarcus Cousins talking about how he’d love for the former Kentucky duo to reunite. But while he hasn’t expressed a desire to leave Washington yet, there’s no way he’s not thinking about it. He has, at least, admitted that he and Beal haven’t had the smoothest relationship as of late.

It’s too soon to proclaim this a lost season for the Wizards, especially with a new head coach, but it’s not as if Washington has even had a particularly tough schedule. Wall’s doing his part, but there’s really only one way you can imagine this partnership ending if the Wizards can’t reciprocate.

The Knicks are a superteam — for four games, at least.

A four-game win streak has moved New York into a three-way tie for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Damn! It’s been a little while since the Knicks have been good.

Well, wait — are the Knicks good? If you aren’t convinced, that’s only fair, since the team hasn’t done much to inspire confidence over the past few seasons. You know what would be the ultimate Knicks move? Pretending to be good for the season’s opening month and then pulling the rug out from under all of the fans who gathered thinking this season might still matter by March.

Unfortunately, that’s a possibility. The Knicks have the fourth-worst defense in the league despite the 12-9 start, as well a negative net rating (-2.7). Even in this four-game win streak, the Knicks’ defense barely improved — their offense just scored more, and they won the four games by a relatively small 25 points combined.

Kristaps Porzingis is the truth, and the Knicks are making him the focal point of the offense these days, while Carmelo Anthony takes a still a crucial secondary role. But without a massive defensive uptick, this may not last.

Tuesday’s top performers

John Wall (52 points, 18-of-31 shooting, 8 assists, 3 steals, 4 turnovers)

Elfrid Payton (25 points, 9-of-12 shooting, 9 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers)

Wall’s performance owned the night, but Payton was the point guard who beat the Wizards with a killer game of his own. Payton actually started 9-of-9 before missing a few shots toward the end, but his career game has to have Magic fans hopeful after another up-and-down start to the season.

Carmelo Anthony (35 points, plus-25)

New York is looking to Porzingis as the centerpiece these days, but sometimes Anthony just has it going. He took 27 shots to get his 35, but whatever he was doing on the floor was working — a plus-25 in an 11-point game isn’t anything to scoff at.

Marc Gasol (26 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists)

Gasol’s just damn good, you know?

RIP Mae Randolph

Zach Randolph returned from a leave of absence after his mother died. The Grizzlies’ standing ovation as he stepped back onto the court was wonderful.