No John Wall, no problem. Don’t look now, but the Wizards have won three straight games in the absence of their All-Star point guard. And the opponents haven’t been slouches, either — two of their wins were against the Thunder on a season-long winning streak and the Raptors.
The Wizards have rhythm without John Wall, and 5 other things from Thursday night
Blake Griffin made his Pistons debut, and the Thunder might be in trouble.
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
The Wizards have remained competitive without Wall in the lineup, and they’ve done it with a more democratic offensive attack than ever. Over their last three games, they’ve averaged 32.3 assists per game — they had 30 against the Raptors — and have a 116 offensive rating. A whopping 76.2 percent of their field goals are assisted in that span.
They’re playing as well as they have all season long, albeit in a small sample. But we shouldn’t take this as an indictment on Wall — he hasn’t been healthy this season and has been dealing with knee issues. Wall at his peak is a player worthy of a high usage rate because he can create whatever shot he wants whenever.
But for Wall at 50 percent? That’s a different story, and we’re seeing it play out here. The Wizards have played better because they have healthy bodies, not because their star isn’t good.
How long will they keep this up? Only time will tell. They play the Magic on Saturday, but after that the schedule gets tough with the Pacers, 76ers, and Celtics up next. Still, though, it seems that the team at least has a blueprint for what it needs to do in Wall’s absence. And, for now, it’s working.
Blake Griffin dominated his debut
Griffin took the reins of the Pistons offense, despite learning just four plays in shootaround (and forgetting to wear his jersey in the second half). He was the point guard, center, and everything in between en route to a 24-point, 10-rebound, and five-assist night.
The Pistons beat the Grizzlies, 104-102, and the team’s owner was hype!
The Nuggets beat the Thunder on a buzzer-beater!
The Nuggets’ guards destroyed the OKC Thunder, 127-124, with a buzzer-beater winning shot from Gary Harris:
On a related note, the Thunder need to replace Andre Roberson... FAST!
Jamal Murray and Harris couldn’t miss, scoring 53 points combined on 23-of-39 shooting, and 10 of those makes from 17 three-point attempts. They were often left alone or were easily able to evade defenders.
With the trade deadline in six days, OKC fans should be on edge because aside from Paul George, there’s nobody to defend the perimeter.
Steven Adams isn’t the answer, either:
Custom kicks are the new wave in the NBA
And they’re all pretty freaking incredible. Whether it’s a new logo or your favorite TV shows or something from a movie, custom shoes have taken over the NBA and we can thank Kickstradomis for a lot of them.
We’ve seen a ton throughout this season, but we got a good look at a pair of customs during Thursday night’s action.
Kelly Oubre Jr. wore some Harden Vol. 1’s with a custom Supreme logo on them:
And Karl-Anthony Towns wore some custom Dragon Ball Z Hyperdunks:
Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images
These are too wavy. I need these in my life.
Speaking of Wizards point guards
Tomas Satoransky can fly!
Scores
Pistons 104, Grizzlies 102 (Detroit Bad Boys recap | Grizzly Bear Blues recap)
Wizards 122, Raptors 119 (Bullets Forever recap | Raptors HQ recap)
Timberwolves 108, Bucks 89 (Canis Hoopus recap | Brew Hoop recap)
Rockets 102, Spurs 91 (The Dream Shake recap | Pounding the Rock recap)
Nuggets 127, Thunder 124 (WTLC recap | Denver Stiffs recap)
See More:
