As they are under contract for several seasons, Kristaps Porzingis and Daniel Gafford could form the pair of interiors of the present and the future of the Wizards. The former is a 2m24 inside who prefers to play wide, while the latter is a specialist in under-board intimidation and offensive rebounds. For the moment, their coach does not associate them, but each in their style, they were effective against the Clippers with 19 points in 26 minutes for the Latvian, and a double-double for the second.
For Wes Unseld Jr, it’s an advantage to be able to count on two “pivots” with different qualities.
“KP is able to push the defense away and Gaff puts a lot of pressure on the defense when he opens up towards the circle” explains the Wizards coach. “Both have good wingspan and size. The possibility of mixing their qualities gives different things in attack, and a different look in defense. “
What does Kristaps Porzingis, very comfortable after two matches, think? ” Both of us are threats on the lob passes, but he is obviously more so than me. I can spread the game more. Every time he opens the circle, he focuses a lot of attention, and it sets the others apart. People don’t see it, but it’s very valuable in that aspect. “
Like Cleveland, the Wizards could get into “very tall ball” with Kyle Kuzma, Kristaps Porzingis and Daniel Gafford. Except that the team runs better when the latter comes off the bench: 19 wins for 9 losses this season against 17 wins for 6 losses last season.
Moreover, Daniel Gafford gets on very well with Ish Smith, the substitute point guard, and Wes Unseld Jr. is counting on their complicity to make the difference against the opposing second unit.
“Ish throws the pick-and-roll and he puts a lot of pressure on the defense with his speed” appreciates his trainer. “Gaff is able to get off the screen, and go fast to the circle. He’s able to put a lot of power into the paint, and once he gets airborne you can send the ball any height he’ll catch it. There is a good connection, and a good synergy between them. I would like it to continue. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 1 | 21.3 | 58.3 | 75.0 | 80.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 25.0 |
| Bradley Beal | 40 | 36.0 | 45.1 | 30.0 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 6.6 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 23.2 |
| Kyle Kuzma | 60 | 33.6 | 45.6 | 34.2 | 72.5 | 1.1 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 3.4 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 17.2 |
| Montrezl Harrell | 46 | 24.3 | 64.5 | 26.7 | 72.7 | 2.1 | 4.6 | 6.7 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 14.1 |
| Spencer Dinwiddie | 44 | 30.2 | 37.6 | 31.0 | 81.1 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 12.6 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 60 | 29.8 | 41.9 | 39.4 | 90.2 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 12.3 |
| Ish Smith | 9 | 22.3 | 53.3 | 35.7 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 9.4 |
| Rui Hachimura | 23 | 18.9 | 46.7 | 51.9 | 78.1 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 9.2 |
| Daniel Gafford | 54 | 20.5 | 68.4 | 0.0 | 71.9 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 5.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 9.1 |
| Thomas Bryant | 20 | 17.6 | 52.3 | 27.8 | 85.2 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 8.3 |
| Raulzinho Neto | 54 | 20.7 | 45.4 | 28.2 | 74.2 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 8.0 |
| Deni Avdija | 63 | 23.5 | 44.0 | 31.3 | 78.1 | 0.7 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 7.7 |
| Brad Wanamaker | 1 | 27.1 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 |
| Corey Kispert | 58 | 20.7 | 42.9 | 32.4 | 87.0 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 6.9 |
| Aaron Holiday | 41 | 16.2 | 46.7 | 34.3 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 6.1 |
| Davis Bertans | 34 | 14.7 | 35.1 | 31.9 | 93.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 5.7 |
| Tomas Satoransky | 3 | 14.8 | 66.7 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 4.7 |
| Greg Monroe | 2 | 8.8 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 4.0 |
| Anthony Gill | 29 | 8.6 | 61.0 | 64.3 | 71.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 3.6 |
| Cassius Winston | 5 | 5.4 | 50.0 | 40.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 2.0 |
| Craig Sword | 3 | 6.3 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 2.0 |
| Tremont Waters | 1 | 8.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Isaiah Todd | 10 | 4.1 | 29.4 | 36.4 | 33.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Alize Johnson | 3 | 6.1 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 |
| Joel Ayayi | 7 | 2.9 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Vernon Carey, Jr. | 1 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jaime Echenique | 1 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jordan Schakel | 2 | 7.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jordan Goodwin | 2 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
