The Wizards are getting hammered by injuries at a particularly bad time, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. The team only had nine players available for Friday’s game at Indiana, which was its eighth loss in its last nine games. Washington is in the midst of a stretch where 17 of 23 games are on the road, so it needs as many healthy players as possible.
Bradley Beal sat out his third straight game Saturday with a low-grade strain of his right hamstring, but he’s expected to be re-evaluated soon, Hughes adds. Kristaps Porzingis was listed as questionable going into Friday’s game with a left ankle issue, but he wound up playing nearly 35 minutes as coach Wes Unseld Jr. basically used a seven-man rotation.
There’s more on the Wizards:
- Rui Hachimura‘s progress has been slow as he works to recover from a bone bruise in his right ankle, tweets Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. Unseld said Friday that Hachimura has been able to do some non-contact drills, but he hasn’t started playing 3-on-3 or 5-on-5.
- Jordan Goodwin has taken advantage of the opportunity provided by the injuries, notes Bijan Todd of NBC Sports Washington. The second-year guard posted career highs with 19 points and five steals Friday night. Goodwin, who’s on a two-way contract, has been producing whenever he’s been called on all season, and Todd believes he might have a role in the rotation even when the rest of the backcourt returns.
- In a video, Hughes examines why Will Barton‘s numbers have declined since he was acquired from the Nuggets in an offseason trade. Barton averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season in Denver, but he has fallen to 7.3/3.1/2.5 through his first 25 games with Washington and his shooting percentages are also way down. Hughes notes that Barton is adjusting to a bench role after being a starter with the Nuggets, but also points out that he’s not driving to the basket nearly as often as he used to.