Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from 2018-19 season opener

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 18: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat and John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards look on during the game on October 18, 2018 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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3. Good defensive teams avoid foul trouble

Now, this isn’t a knock on the Wizards defense. In fact, they played stellar defense, finishing with 15 blocks as a team. But when it counted, their defense fell apart, especially on the glass. They’ll need to take things one possession at a time going forward or they could find themselves battling for a spot in the playoffs.

After all, they ended up giving up over 100 points and allowed Josh Richardson and Rodney McGruder to score at least 20 points each. Early foul trouble to some key players knocked off the team’s rhythm in the early going. Bradley Beal, Markieff Morris and Ian Mahinmi all picked up three fouls before halftime arrived.

Kelly Oubre Jr. and Austin Rivers picked up the slack with 14 bench points in the first half, but against better teams in the East, this simply won’t fly.

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