Washington, as usual, had trouble in the first quarter at FedEx Forum in Memphis, then rallied to tighten the game in the third quarter. But ultimately the Wizards’ defense again let them down in the second half of a 127-112 loss. The Wizards (14-21) came back from a 19-point deficit in the first half to take a brief one-point lead midway through the third quarter, the type of rebound that more often than not this season has led to a nail-biter of a finish.
But this time, Washington maintained that edge for less than two minutes before Memphis (17-16) regained its hold on the game. Soft defense allowed the hyper-energetic Grizzlies to gain too much confidence early on; a slim deficit couldn’t faze the home team with center Jonas Valanciunas dominating the post and the Wizards expending energy at the wrong moment. Center Moritz Wagner was assessed one of the team’s two technical fouls (forward Davis Bertans had the other, in the fourth quarter) with Memphis leading by one in the third quarter and the teams jockeying for control.
Valanciunas had 10 points and seven rebounds in the third quarter alone and sapped any momentum the Wizards had worked to accrue. He led all Grizzlies scorers with 29 points and exemplified their efficient scoring night — Memphis shot 50.5 percent from the field overall.
Their easy offense was a result of stellar defense.
Beal led Washington with 21 points despite Memphis’s defense hounding him all night. The guard shot 6 for 22 from the field and went 8 for 8 from the foul line.
Wizards Coach Scott Brooks said the Wizards needed to set better screens to help negate the Grizzlies’ physical defense on Beal, but more broadly, Washington needs to create more offense early on to help open up better looks for the all-star. The Wizards made 5 of 18 from three-point range in the first half.
“They’re physical with [Beal], they put a lot of bodies [on him], they dare us to make shots,” Brooks said. “Until we start making shots consistently from three, they’re going to put a lot of bodies around him.”
Westbrook had 20 points on a more efficient 10-for-19 shooting night, and he added five rebounds and 10 assists. Rookie Deni Avdija and three-point specialist Davis Bertans added 13 points each off the bench.
The root problem with the early sluggishness was transition defense — 26 of the Grizzlies’ 35 points in the opening quarter came in the paint. Brooks described the game as a “dunk fest” at points.
“It’s putting our head down,” Brooks said. “We miss a shot, it’s like the end of the world for some of our guys. Our transition, our balance wasn’t good tonight. We know we have a couple of guys — Russell’s one of the big-time drivers in the league. When he’s driving to the rim, he’s one of the best at doing that. His momentum, whether he makes or misses that, is going to go toward the baseline. We talked about that. We’ve got to get guys sprinting back. Those first three steps are sprints. I thought we were waiting too long to see if it’s a make or a miss.”
The Wizards’ first-quarter issues again doomed them Wednesday. They surrendered 35 points in the opening 12 minutes only to rebound from a double-digit deficit and trail 67-62 at the break after Troy Brown Jr. came off the bench to help get the offense moving.
“On the bench you kind of get to see what we’re missing a little bit, so I just tried to be that spark today,” said Brown, who was the only Washington player made available on a videoconference after the game.
A huge part of Memphis’s early success was tying up Beal so tightly that he was marked as soon as Washington inbounded the ball; he still managed 10 points at halftime thanks to eight made free throws.
Another element of Memphis’s early dominance was the Wizards’ failure to establish themselves defensively from the game’s outset. The Grizzlies shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first quarter, waltzing through a limp defense that made Washington look as if it were still on vacation.
With the highflying Ja Morant running the offense, that opening window was all Memphis needed to settle in feel comfortable showing off. Morant had 21 points, and Desmond Bane added 20.
Washington now turns its attention to a trying stretch beginning Friday, in which it faces Philadelphia, the league-leading Utah Jazz, Sacramento and then the Milwaukee Bucks twice in a seven-day span.
“We got to get other guys to lock in, we need everybody,” Brooks said. “We’ve got a tough stretch of games here, we can’t win with one or two guys, three guys. We need all 15 guys mentally, physically, emotionally, we can’t keep getting these technical fouls. We’ve got to play much better than we did tonight.”