Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images
After yet another herculean effort by Bradley Beal, who scored 41, his 24th-career 40-point tally, the Wizards (2–7) fell to the Boston Celtics (7–3) 116–107 in the final match of a four-game road trip. Boston came out strong racing to an 8–0 lead after Beal committed two turnovers, but the Wizards’ star atoned for any errors by scoring eight of the team’s first 13 points and 14 of 28 at the end of the first quarter.
Also of note from a first quarter that saw Washington down 33–28 was the insertion of Isaac Bonga who hasn’t played since the Minnesota game, albeit for five minutes to help stabilize the defense. Despite being one of the more capable defenders on a team that struggles on that end of the floor, Bonga played only six minutes and finished with one rebound and one assist.
The 2020-21 NBA season is already starting later than usual. In a pre-coronavirus world, we’d be about one-third of the way in a season at this point.
But with the virus and case counts rising throughout the United States, most arenas in the west and east coasts will not have fans, including Capital One Arena, the home of the Washington Wizards.
And if there’s one thing I just can’t grasp with empty arenas, it’s fake crowd noise.
Okay, I get that there has been fake crowd noise in other arenas and in the NBA bubble last year. But when I was watching the game last night, I didn’t really care that much about the 97-86 loss to the Detroit Pistons. When Russell Westbrook, Davis Bertans and Rui Hachimura were all out due to rest or minor injuries, Head Coach Scott Brooks waved the white flag. So I though the team was a group of walking dead men before the game started. I’ll just leave my thought at that.
Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images
It has been exactly 282 days since Bradley Beal last stepped onto a court for an NBA game. The last time Wizards fans were able to watch Beal go to work, he dropped 39 points, seven assists and three steals against a hapless New York Knicks squad at Capital One Arena on Mar. 10 in a 122-115 win.
From there, the coronavirus pandemic suspended the 2019-20 NBA season for several months before the league resumed in a postseason bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL, Beal did not travel with the team due to a shoulder injury. With the NBA season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the shoulder ailment, just seeing Beal’s name listed in the starting lineup was cause for celebration.
Game Info
Where: Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
How to watch: NBC Sports Washington
Injury Report
Pistons: None.
Wizards: Russell Westbrook (Rest, Game-Time Decision); Bradley Beal (Rest, Game-Time Decision); Rui Hachimura (Eye, Game-Time Decision); Davis Bertans (Undisclosed; Game-Time Decision); Ish Smith (Lower Body; Game-Time Decision)
Pregame Notes
The Washington Wizards have their second preseason game Thursday night against the Detroit Pistons. It’ll be on the Wizards home floor where hopefully we’ll see Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook get to play together. In their opening preseason game, Washington lost 119-114 to the Brooklyn Nets without Beal and Westbrook. Granted a loss is a loss, but the fact they were able to keep up with majority reserve players does say a lot.