Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from their victory over Denver

3. Defense still a work in progress for Washington

The Washington Wizards got the victory in the end, but it wasn’t without problems in the early going. The Wizards allowed 52 points in the paint and 21 fast break points to the Nuggets.

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Denver big men Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap had big games, but the Wizards did well limiting the rest of the starting lineup’s scoring output.

Jokic had 16 points in the first half and was 2-for-2 from the 3-point line. He finished the game with 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but he also had seven turnovers in the game. Millsap finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.

The Wizards did score 28 points off of Denver’s turnovers. In the end, it was too much John Wall that did them in. Otto Porter Jr. led the way on defense with four steals, while Wall finished with two.

The Wizards have yet to allow fewer than 100 points in a game this season, something they’ll need to hone in on if they hope to be a top team in the Eastern Conference. On the bright side, they never trailed in the second half and led by as many as eight points in the game.