Wes Unseld Jr. could almost congratulate himself: the Spurs scored only 9 award-winning baskets in 58 minutes. And in the second half, San Antonio was limited to 55 points, losing 12 balls, while finishing the game with only 9 points scored on the counterattack.
Numbers that could allow the Wizards to win, but the defense sank in other areas.
“Overall, in the second half, I thought our defensive intensity was better”explains the Washington coach at NBC Sports. “After, 157 points conceded, it is obviously not good. The defense in the racket already: 44 points conceded in the first period, 74 in the meeting. You can’t win like that. They didn’t hurt us behind the arc. “
Indeed, only Keldon Johnson (32 points) with his 5/9 really had impact and efficiency in this area for Gregg Popovich and his gang. And it’s no surprise since the winger is one of the most accurate 3-point shooters in the league (in the Top 10) with 42.5% success.
“It shouldn’t have been very complicated”assures Wes Unseld Jr., when he talks about stopping Keldon Johnson. “We approached this match by saying that we had to watch him and we were never on his back. He finished at 5/9 so it’s obvious that we didn’t do anything to counter that. “
“Overall, we can’t be too disappointed. We played three overtime, right? Ah, two? I felt like I had played three of them”
Despite shortcomings in defense, the Wizards resisted well before finally giving in after two overtimes. Kyle Kuzma is therefore less severe than his coach when analyzing this defeat, after an extended evening.
“The defenses were absent on both sides”believes Washington’s leading scorer in this game, with 36 points. “We are doing a good job of staying in the game, I think. Overall, we can’t be too disappointed. We played three overtime, right? Ah, two? I felt like I had played three. “
The disappointment is all the greater for the coach of the troops of the capital because, to see the Spurs insist inside and chain the baskets near the circle, it is not a novelty this year.
“We could have done better, but we have to give them credit too”recognizes the Wizards coach. “They were exceptional offensively, scoring a lot. It’s the best team in the league for points in the key, with 56 points on average, it’s no coincidence. There, it was really blatant and too much for us, but they rely on their strong point. “
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| 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 | 56 | 33.4 | 45.3 | 33.9 | 71.0 | 1.1 | 7.7 | 8.8 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 16.7 |
| 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 | 56 | 29.6 | 41.2 | 38.1 | 90.6 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 11.8 |
| Ish Smith | 5 | 21.8 | 58.1 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 5.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 10.4 |
| Daniel Gafford | 50 | 20.6 | 68.0 | 0.0 | 74.4 | 2.2 | 3.7 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 9.0 |
| Rui Hachimura | 19 | 18.4 | 46.0 | 46.3 | 76.7 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 8.8 |
| Raulzinho Neto | 50 | 20.6 | 46.2 | 26.8 | 74.7 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 8.0 |
| Thomas Bryant | 17 | 17.2 | 50.0 | 28.1 | 83.3 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 7.9 |
| Deni Avdija | 59 | 23.7 | 44.5 | 31.4 | 76.7 | 0.6 | 4.5 | 5.2 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 7.8 |
| 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 | 54 | 20.1 | 43.3 | 32.4 | 88.9 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 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 |
| 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 | 27 | 8.7 | 60.7 | 58.3 | 71.0 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 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 |
