Breaking down the stats behind the Wizards’ loss to the Cavaliers

Stats, analysis, commentary. By the Broom-personator

The Washington Wizards lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 114-106 last night. Kevin Broom is out again, so I’ll be his impersonator again. Let’s go through the numbers, then go through the good, bad and ugly.

I get it, the Wizards are rebuilding. They are going to lose in pretty much every category in the four factors. That was the case today as they didn’t shoot as well, couldn’t get to the free throw line, turn the ball over more … and can’t rebound the ball (though they did outrebound the Cavs last night). But considering that this was a close game in a contest where they really should have been blown out, I’d consider this game a moral victory. So let’s get to my bullet points here.

The Good

• 17 lead changes, including a lead change in the fourth quarter: The Wizards and Cavaliers played a competitive game from start to finish for the most part. Sure the Cavs led by as many as 11 points late in the game. But I was glad to see a competitive effort.
• 23: That’s not for Michael Jordan, the former Wizards star. That’s the number of points Corey Kispert put up against the Cavs. He did this shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 4-of-9 from the free throw line. Let met also add that Kispert grabbed 7 rebounds too. Why is this man not starting!?
• Another double-double from Daniel Gafford: 14 points and 13 rebounds in 35 minutes, plus four blocks! He is coming into his own.

The Bad

• The 34-27 fourth quarter in favor of the Cavs: Washington was in this game from start to nearly the end. I wish they could have kept some more momentum going in that last period.
• Allowing Donovan Mitchell to score 40 points: After Bradley Beal took the Wizards to school on Sunday, you would think that the Wizards would try to prevent another guard from going bonkers on them. Mitchell scored fewer points than Beal, but he still shot above 40 percent from the field, including 5-of-10 from the three point line.

The Ugly

• Jordan Poole’s scoreless night: He played 24 minutes, scored no points and fouled out. He did dish five assists, but this kind of performance is absolutely pathetic. Brian Keefe needs to bench him. Yesterday. I’d say that the Capital One Arena crowd agrees.

• Nine total free throw attempts and 23 committed fouls: I get that the refs are more or less against the Wizards most seasons. But the Wizards could have won this game if they made more free throw ATTEMPTS. The free throw percentage wasn’t great either, but allowing the Cave to attempt 22 free throws while you can only do nine? Really?

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