The Washington Wizards Bench: The Real MVPs
The Washington Wizards bench has boosted the team’s success during their winning streak.
The Washington Wizards won another game against a potential Eastern Conference playoff team. On Friday night, they outplayed the Indiana Pacers 118-104 in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The Wizards have been on a roll as of late and are surging on the road. It is easy to point out the All-Star play of John Wall as the reason why they are doing so well. The return of Bradley Beal could also be a key part of their recent success. But I prefer to point out the unsung heroes of the team that may not always get the bulk of the credit: their bench.
The reserves of the Wizards have been providing a huge lift for the team during their four-game winning streak, averaging 45.3 points during the stretch. It also helps that Bradley Beal hasn’t started yet since coming back from a leg injury. So his play is bolstering the team’s bench points by a wide margin. Nevertheless, there are other key contributors that have given the team the spark it needs to win big.
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Players such as Ramon Sessions (10.2 PPG) and Gary Neal (10.3 PPG) are key components to why the Wizards have been able to look at the next man on the roster to fill in the void of players who have been constantly injured during the season. Since taking the starting role for Bradley Beal during their winning streak, Garrett Temple is averaging 10.3 points and 4.0 assists per game, making him a key contributor for Wall to look at for help.
These guys are also pretty young, so asking them to do more than normal is not a tough task for them. Rookie forward Kelly Oubre may not be scoring much, but his defense has helped the team by averaging 1.3 steals in the last four games.
During Friday’s game, the bench scored 67 points against Indiana. The team has since put behind their poor play during the start of the new year and have not made excuses regarding the recent injuries to the team. It shows character and morale that the team can come from a tough place like this during the start of the season and be back at the .500 mark in the Eastern Conference.
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The Wizards’ next four games are at the Verizon Center. If they can protect home court during this week and not take it for granted, they will be well on their way rising to the top in time for the playoffs.