Washington Wizards: Grading their first road trip of the season

Defense

The Washington Wizards defense has taken a few hits with injuries to Markieff Morris and recently, Ian Mahinmi. The Wizards currently rank 17th in points allowed per game (105.8). They gave up 111.0 points in their two losses against Los Angeles and Golden State.

They allowed fewer than 100 points in the final game of their West Coast road trip, but other than that, it was rough sledding for them. The Wizards were outscored 54-48 in the paint against the Lakers and Warriors outscored them 52-38.

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The Wizards’ interior defense took huge hits in both contests when key starters got in foul trouble. Otto Porter fouled out of their game against the Lakers and he finished with five fouls against the Warriors. The Wizards need him at the end of games, especially if things are close.

Their biggest hope is the return of Markieff Morris changing things in the frontcourt. Morris will have a one-game suspension to serve once he’s medically cleared to return after leaving the bench during the Beal-Draymond kerfuffle.

In the long run, it helps that Porter has gotten some experience defending in the post against bigger Western Conference teams. The Wizards went 2-2 in four road games, which isn’t bad for their first road trip. We’ll see how much of it carries over into the rest of the regular season.

Grade: C+