Wizards lose to Clippers, drop 6th straight originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
WASHINGTON — The Washington Wizards lost to the L.A. Clippers 114-107 on Saturday night at Capital One Arena. Here are five takeaways from what went down…
Wiz keep sliding
The Wizards are banged up, road weary and tired, and going through what they will certainly hope is the lowest point of their season. They fell to the Clippers on Saturday night at home for their sixth-straight loss, tying their longest losing streak since the Orlando bubble.
Washington has now dropped nine of their last 10 games. They sit 11-16 on the year with a home game against the Nets set for Monday before they embark on a six-game West Coast road trip.
Perimeter defense was once again a problem for the Wizards on Saturday, as they have struggled mightily in that department as of late. The Clippers shot 19-for-47 (40.4%) from three, wiping out what could have been an advantage for Washington, who shot 16-for-33 (48.5%).
It was the sixth-straight game the Wizards’ opponent made 10-plus threes with teams shooting 41.7% from deep against them during that stretch. Washington allowed 18 or more threes in back-to-back games, which is a lot.
This game marked the first time John Wall got to play in front of D.C. fans since he was traded by the Wizards in December of 2020. He was given a tribute video and a standing ovation. Wall finished with 13 points and three assists.
Kuzma went off
Kristaps Porzingis erupted in the first half of Friday’s game against the Pacers and on Saturday it was Kyle Kuzma’s turn. He caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 17 points in the frame, to reach halftime with 25 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting from long range. That was the most points Kuzma has scored in a single half since joining the Wizards and three short of his career-high for a half.
In addition to lighting it up from three, Kuzma found success with floaters in the lane. He was able to put together a monster scoring night of 35 points on 14-for-27 shooting, including 7-for-10 from deep despite being guarded extensively by Kawhi Leonard. Leonard, of course, is coming off an ACL injury, but still is an all-time great defender.
Goodwin thriving
By now we should all understand that when Jordan Goodwin is presented with an opportunity, he’s going to take advantage of it. Goodwin had a career night against the Pacers on Friday and rolled that over to Saturday with another solid game starting in the place of Monte Morris. He had 17 points, six assists and four rebounds. After setting a career-high with five steals against the Pacers, he set a new mark with six in this one.
Goodwin is the first Wizards player with five or more steals in consecutive games since Larry Hughes in 2005. So yeah, it’s been a while. Even Wall, who has the franchise record for career steals never accomplished the feat. This Goodwin guy might be special.
Porzingis’ consistency
While Kuzma led the way in scoring, Porzingis wasn’t far behind. He dropped 30 points on 8-for-20 shooting from the field and 12-for-13 from the free throw line. He also had 15 rebounds, six assists and two blocks, another well-rounded game from him in a long line of them. Porzingis, in fact, has reached double-figure scoring in all 43 games he’s played for the Wizards since coming over at a trade in February. That is a new career-long streak for him.
Porzingis, though, took the shot on an ill-fated possession that began with the Wizards down three points with 23.8 seconds left. He shot a contested three that was off the mark and then the Wizards’ fate was sealed by a flagrant foul by Deni Avdija on Paul George (36 points). It was a bad sequence of late game execution.
Morris out
The Wizards were already down bad in the injury department, as they had only nine available players for Friday night’s loss in Indiana. On Saturday, they added another injury to the pile as Morris sat out due to a left groin strain. That is a new injury for Morris, who had only missed two previous games this season, both due to an ankle injury.
The Wizards did, however, bring some reinforcements from the Go-Go, their G-League affiliate. Devon Dotson got some run as their backup point guard, as he is now out of health and safety protocols. They also had Isaiah Todd and Vernon Carey Jr., though they did not play and basically served as insurance just in case.
