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Washington Wizards: 3 takeaways from their first victory of the season

By Jerran Anderson

PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 22: The Portland Trail Blazers stands for the National Anthem before the game against the Washington Wizards on October 22, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. 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 Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 22: The Portland Trail Blazers stands for the National Anthem before the game against the Washington Wizards on October 22, 2018 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. 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 Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images /

1. The Other Guys stepped up

The other players in the Wizards’ rotation stepped up in a big way on Monday night and hopefully it builds to something greater. To put things into perspective, Wall made his fifth field goal of the game off the glass with 9.4 seconds left in overtime. It wasn’t the usual scoring output of Wall and Beal carrying the load, and it was refreshing to see.

Three players scored at least 20 points including Markieff Morris, who finished with 28 points and nine rebounds with a career-high six made 3-pointers. Morris scored 17 in the fourth quarter and overtime, and went 6-of-10 from 3-point range.

Meanwhile, Porter finished with his first double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Although he went 0-for-4 from 3-point range, he was aggressive all night long, going 6-of-16 from the field in the contest.

Kelly Oubre was the other big contributor on both ends. He finished with 22 points, six rebounds, a steal and a block as he made his case to be inserted into a starting role. Oubre ended up playing a total of 39 minutes and made it difficult for Scott Brooks to keep him off the floor.

Next. Week 2 NBA Power Rankings. dark

Dwight Howard being out of the rotation has really left a hole in this team’s rebounding department, but they’ve managed to adjust so far. If they can continue to get key contributions from their role players, things may not be so bad after all.

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