Happy All-Star Weekend!

This week...

• Wizards go into the break with the 9th seed after one of the best wins of the season against the Timberwolves.

• FG%, Points, Steals, Blocks & Turnovers: Which Wizards are leading the pack in each category?

• Zaz's Weekly Take: Why doesn't Daniel Gafford close games?

• Is Westbrook coming back to the DMV?

• Upcoming schedule

Weekly Recap

Final scores

Wizards 126 * Warriors 135 (Monday):

Our guys started off strong with KP and Beal combining for 26 points in Q1 leading the Wizards to a 10 point lead at the end of the first period. Unfortunately it was pretty much downhill from that point on.

The Warriors ended the 1st half with a 5-point lead after outscoring the Wizards by 15 in the 2nd quarter. The 3rd quarter was more of the same with the Warriors getting fast break buckets off the Wizards turnovers and making 50% of their threes.

KP and Beal did what they could ending with 67 points combined for the game. The Wizards had a mini-run in the 4th but it was too little too late.

Wizards 126 * 101 Blazers (Tuesday)

This was one of those match-ups where the Wizards were in control throughout most of the game. It was really great to see the big three back in action.

KP had his usual strong first quarter with 11 points. Kuzma caught fire in the second quarter hitting four consecutive threes including a half court buzzer beater that put the Wizards up by 23.

The Blazers tried to hang around thanks to Damian Lillard’s 39 point performance. There were times where the Blazers looked like they would make a run BUT... having Beal back is such a luxury. He scored timely baskets down the stretch with 15 points in the second half.

Delon Wright played 29 minutes and had four steals. Kendrick Nunn gave quality minutes off the bench and finished in double figures. Kuzma led all scorers with 33 points, KP finished with 28 points, and Beal with 19. Great win all around.

Wizards 114 * Timberwolves 106 (Thursday)

This was a tale of two halves. The Wizards looked really bad in the first half going down by as many as 20 points. Anthony Edwards was raining threes and Rudy Gobert was having his way in the paint. But the Wizards were able to get the lead down to eight points by halftime thanks to the hot shooting of Beal and Kispert from beyond the arc.

The beginning of the second half wasn’t looking much better and the Timberwolves got out to as many as 18 before Deni ended the third quarter with his own 7-0 run.

This was one of those games you’d think the Wizards will spend too much energy trying to come back only to run out of gas down the stretch. However, this time was different. The Wizard’s moved to a zone and doubled Edwards, who only had three points in the fourth quarter. Delon Wright’s solid defense, Beal’s 35 points, a clutch go ahead three by Kuzma, followed by a clutch three by Beal, saved the day.

FG%, Points, Steals, Blocks & Turnovers: Which Wizards are leading the pack in each category?

As we wrap up the All-Star break, we thought this would be a good time to look at the Wizards roster and breakdown who's leading in each statistical category.

Field Goal Percentage

Leading the way in this category with a 74.5 FG% is "The Landlord". Gafford is averaging a little under 5 shots per game and we know when he gets the ball under the rim its bad news for the opposing team. Gafford currently ranks 3rd in the NBA in True Shooting Percentage.

What we found even more impressive, to be honest, was Bradley Beal's 52.0 FG%. Beal is putting up almost 17 shots a game and leads the Wizards in scoring with an average of 23 PPG.

From Downtown..

We have some solid 3 point shooters on this Wizards squad and if I had to bet, I would have put my money on Porzingas for this category... but I would have been wrong!

Cory Kispert currently leads the team with a 41.5% 3-point percentage out of 4.5 shots per game. KP is shooting 37% in this category.

Crashing the Boards

Here's a category where Porzingas dominates, averaging 8.6 rebounds per game. KP also leads the team in offensive rebounds with almost 2 per game. Kuzma comes in at a close 2nd with 7.6 rebounds per game.

Dropping dimes

This category is essentially tied between Monte Morris with 5.3 assists per game and Bradley Beal with 5.2. As a tie breaker we'll factor in total assists thus far in the season and that's gonna give Monte the crown with 267 while Beal trails with 186 (Kuzma is actually number 2 in total assists with 207).

Blocks

Officially, it's Porzingas with an average of 1.5 blocks per game. Gafford however is only 2 blocks behind KP in total blocks for the season with 74 (Note that Gafford has played a lot fewer minutes for half the season before he was brought into the starting line up). By the end of the season "The Landlord" should win this category.

Steals

You guessed it...Delon Wright leads the team averaging 2 steals per game with a total of 58 for season (team high). For context, the league leader in this category, Anthony Edwards, averages 2.1 steals per game. More context: Wright has only played 29 games this season.

Turnovers

Sorry, but we have to do it. Kyle Kuza is giving the ball away more than any other Wizard, averaging 2.9 turnovers per game. Clean it up Kyle! To be fair, KP is right behind him with 2.8 turnovers per game, while Beal is averaging 2.2.

Why doesn’t Daniel Gafford close games?

I’ve noticed lately that although Gafford starts games, he’s certainly not a preferred choice of head coach Wes Unseld Jr for the end of games. In fact, I’ve seen box scores where he’s played less than 15 minutes, which seems very low for a starter.

Players coming off the bench such as Wright, Kispert, and Avidja seem to be getting those closing minutes over Gafford. Is this the correct call?

On Thursday, I noticed it worked well in the comeback vs. the Timberwolves. The closing lineup with the big three plus Wright and Kispert. You can't argue with the Delon Wright choice, he was huge for our zone defense and Kispert had shot 4-6 from downtown. Gafford finished the game with 19 minutes compared to Kispert’s 32 minutes, Wright’s 29 minutes, and Deni’s 24 minutes.

I’ve been very critical of Wes Unseld Jr.’s lineup selection and adjustments (or lack thereof) throughout the season. I do agree that Wright’s defense is highly needed for critical stops down the stretch. I’m just wondering if that should be in place of Morris, or with Morris?

On Tuesday against Portland both closed the game. On Thursday against the Timberwolves, Morris played zero minutes in the fourth quarter. What about having Gafford close the game instead of Kispert or Deni? For now, it’s something to monitor going forward, but there are times when I just ask myself, why is Gafford not out there?

Latest Westbrook rumors...

After news broke of Kevin Love's intention to sign with the Miami Heat, all eyes are now on Russell Westbrook. Earlier this week, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Washington Wizards are among four teams who are interested in signing him.

Most recently reported is that Russell Westbrook is expected to finalize his decision between the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls during the All-Star break, per Chris Haynes of TNT.

There are mixed reactions on Wizards social media chatter but from what I can tell the general sentiment is "excitement". By the time you are reading this there may be news that has already broken about this story.

Upcoming Schedule for next week...

Wizards vs Knicks (Home)

• Friday, Feb. 24th @7:00pm: With the season series tied 1-1, this should be a good one. The last time the Knicks came to Capitol One in January they beat us by 4 points but the Wizards got their revenge win the following week in NYC.

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