Washington Wizards: 3 reasons the season is over

1. Bad fourth quarters

Two consecutive games with bad fourth quarters doomed the Washington Wizards. In Game 5, they were outscored 29-20 in the fourth quarter after leading by a point. On Friday night, things got even worse, as they were outscored 29-14 in the final 12 minutes.

It doesn’t help that both Bradley Beal and John Wall both played 40 minutes, either. Washington was 4-for-16 (25 percent) shooting in the fourth quarter in Game 6 on Friday night. Wall was 0-for-4 from the field but did manage to make four free throws. Unfortunately, that was all the offense Washington got out of him. Beal was 2-for-5 overall and 2-for-3 from behind the arc with six points.

With 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting from their best two players, it’s no wonder the Wizards lost Game 6. Marcin Gortat didn’t attempt a shot in seven minutes in the fourth. Oubre was 0-for-2 and Morris was 1-2.

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Closing out games is bigger than just scoring the basketball for this team, too. It’s about finding rotations that can hold onto leads. In a game that saw five lead changes, the Washington Wizards led with 9:36 left in the game before their epic collapse. They were outscored 22-12 from there.