Washington Wizards: Assessing the team at the midseason mark

Offense

As a team, the Washington Wizards haven’t quite been the top-five scoring offense they were a season ago. This season, they rank 12th in the league in points per game (106.5). Through three games in January, they’re averaging 108.7 points per contest, which speaks to them getting back to optimal health as a team.

Markieff Morris has yet to really find his rhythm since missing the start of the season with injury, but he’s getting back to form. John Wall has missed 11 of their 40 games this season.

The Wizards’ offense goes as its best player (Bradley Beal) goes. Don’t get me wrong, John Wall is a great player in his own right, but he’s the leader of this team. His job this season, which he’s been spectacular with, has been to put Beal in a position to succeed on offense.

Beal is averaging 23.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game, all career-highs for him. He’s shooting 45.3 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from 3-point range while attempting a career-high 18.9 shots per contest.

Beal put up a career-high 51 points on 21-of-37 shooting back on Dec. 5 in a 106-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Next to his 51-point game, Beal also has scored 30 points or more in six other contests for the Wizards.

John Wall is averaging 18.7 points, 9.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. While his scoring, assists and rebounding numbers are down, Wall’s presence on offense has still been felt as the team’s floor general.

His presence was certainly missed during the nine games he missed due to a knee injury. The Wizards went  5-4 during that stint and are 6-5 this season without Wall in the rotation.

Grade: B+