Washington Wizards Need To Be Better At Home
The Washington Wizards were a tough team to play at home last season, but this season has told a different tale so far.
The Washington Wizards seem to be turning a corner as of late as they slowly become healthy and have the ability to make a real playoff push as we approach the halfway mark of the season. One important thing the Wizards need to fix is the way they play in Washington.
Last season, the Wizards were a great home team. They were 29-12 at the Verizon Center in Washington, which trailed only the Cavaliers and the Hawks for the best home record in the East. They won only two fewer home games than the Cavs; the team that made the Finals. This season, the Wizards have struggled in front of their home crowd.
After two straight home losses to the Celtics and the Blazers, the Wizards are now 9-13 at home. That may not come as much of a surprise considering all of the injuries the team has had, but they’re still 10-8 on the road, which is the third-best road record in the East.
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Compared to last season, the Wizards were better at home at just about every aspect of the game, but there are a few stats that stand out the most.
The team’s Net Rating is an obvious one that jumps out at you. Per NBA.com, the Wizards had a plus-7.1 Net Rating last season. That number has dropped to minus-1.9 for this season; a nine-point fall.
That can be mostly attributed to the Wizards’ defense. Washington sported the No. 2 spot, trailing only the mighty Golden State Warriors, in Defensive Rating last season, allowing opponents to score only 97.2 points per 100 possessions.
That number has jumped up to 104.3 this season, which puts them in the bottom eight in the league in that category.
On the subject of defense, the Wizards led the league in opponent field goal percentage last season, forcing teams to shoot 42.2 percent, per NBA.com.
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They’re currently allowing teams to shoot 46 percent against them. That doesn’t sound like too significant of a fall, but if you take into consideration that only 6 percent separates the best team (the Spurs) from the worst team (the Suns) in that category, a 3.8-percent decrease is notable.
As you may have guessed, the interior defense is what’s been lacking the most, caused by the significant amount of time missed from guys like Nene, Drew Gooden and Kris Humphries.
The Wizards allowed opponents to shoot only 55.1 percent from inside five feet from the basket, which was the fifth-best in the NBA. This season, they’re allowing teams to hit 59 percent of their shots from that range, putting them seventh to last.
Another way that missing big men has been hurting Washington is rebounding. The Wizards were the sixth-best rebounding team at home last season. This season, they are second to last in that category.
These may not be necessarily surprising stats, given the injuries that the team is suffered, but it doesn’t explain why the Wizards have been better on the road that on their home floor.
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As the team becomes healthy, the Wizards need to get things done in the Verizon Center in the second half of the season if they want to make a playoff push.