Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By : Sol Tucker
Dallas, TX–
Tonight everyone on the Wizards roster realized these games now count, too bad the final score line doesn’t show that. While the final score was much closer than the full game result, there are certainly a few things the Wizards need to get right on this road trip before they find themselves digging out of a hole for the entire season.
Bradley Beal made his presence known after signing a big contract extension last week with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, which also included an ejection in the final minutes as he waived to the crowd after jawing with Mavs forward Luka Doncic.
“I didn’t like the call, I thought I would let them ( the fans and refs) know how I felt,” said Beal. This isn’t going to an every game thing for me, but I know my leadership is what is important on the court.
Rui Hachimura got in on the action tonight as well with his first double double of his career with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He did have limited minutes as he incurred some early foul trouble and forced Scott Brooks to send him to the bench.
One thing the Wizards failed to do was contain both Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, who just had their way with the Wizards defense. Doncic finished with 32 points and Porzingis with 23 points.
“Both players had a great game tonight,” said Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks. I think our defense did the best the could to contain them late in the game when we made that run, but they found other players and we made a few mistakes in that final push. This is what the first game is for. We can fix a lot of this before the next one.”
Prior to the game Wizards guard Isiah Thomas got in some shooting on the court with minutes before tip-off and prior to the game there was a chance that he would see some action tonight. He did not appear as the team wants to make sure he is 100 percent before getting him back on the court.
Other notables of the night came from Thomas Bryant with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Bryant has continued to improve his numbers since last season and can be a threat from anywhere on the court late in the game if he is able to stay out of foul trouble.
