National Basketball Association with an emphasis in covering the Washington Wizards.
Before the Washington Wizards were cast as leading characters in a drama fit for the stage, their early-season issues centered simply on basketball questions. One of the biggest: Could Otto Porter Jr. consistently and aggressively perform as the team’s third option and fill his role as a maximum-contract contributor?
In September, during the team’s first day back at work, Coach Scott Brooks pleaded with reporters to bug Porter to take more shots. Then early in the season, point guard John Wall let the media know that he was done answering questions about how to get Porter more shots. As the losses piled up, Porter spent several games doing what reporters do: He was watching the fourth quarter.
Through the team’s first 19 games, Porter had not eclipsed 20 points — a scoring mark hit by six teammates, including Jeff Green and Kelly Oubre Jr., who did so coming off the bench. On Saturday night, in his third straight game starting as the team’s stretch four, Porter started hot and finished just as sizzling with a season-high 29 points on 12-of-15 shooting. His offensive outburst lifted the Wizards (7-12) to a 124-114 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
“The way we’ve been playing, we’ve been getting up and down the court and spreading the ball, and just attacking the rim,” Porter said. “John and [Bradley Beal] do a good job of attacking the rim, so guys are open on the outside and we’re getting good looks. Now they’re starting to fall.”
While defensive deficiencies have been the most visible factor in the team’s slow start, an overlooked issue is Porter’s diminished offensive presence, especially late in games. In the fourth quarter Saturday night, Porter wasn’t the Wizards' most prolific shooter, but he made all three of his attempts for six points. It was the first time this season that Porter attempted three shots in the final quarter.
Porter’s attempts are not directly linked to the Wizards' success — last season, the team went 10-8 when he attempted 14 or more shots — but there is something to the timing of his shots.
Porter is not the team’s featured player in the final quarter, but the small sample size of Porter putting up late shots is telling. In 2017-18, he attempted at least three fourth-quarter shots six times, and the Wizards went 4-2, with both losses coming against the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Remove the league’s superteam from the mix, and Porter’s involvement in the final quarter appeared to be a key element to closing games successfully.
Brooks said he thinks Porter’s new role will boost his production. “He’s playing the four,” Brooks said, “so I think it’s something that he has to continue to adjust and play through, but I think it’s actually going to help him.”
On Saturday, it helped that the Wizards did not have to face the Pelicans' elite big man; Anthony Davis did not play because of a strained right hip. Washington went unpunished while playing super small for long stretches, including a lineup that featured four guards. Porter and his all-around game thrived in that setting.
Although he played only a little more than half of the fourth quarter, Porter tipped in a miss, dunked a lob from Wall and cut to the basket for another layup assisted by Wall. But Porter’s aggressiveness wasn’t isolated to his scoring; he also had two assists and a steal.
“He has opportunities. Early on tonight, he got his threes to go,” Wall said Saturday. “And he’s got to be aggressive in knocking down some pullups and . . . anytime we got stagnant in the game, he [was] aggressive.
“We tried to tell him, ‘You can make plays off the dribble whenever you get the ball,’ ” Wall continued. “ . . . He’s seen a couple go in the basket, and he just kept shooting.”
Read more:
Big men sit but big names do the trick in Wizards’ win over the Pelicans
The Wizards’ melodrama plays to yawns in Toronto as the Raptors score an easy win
Stoic as usual, Markieff Morris accepts his benching, which may last for a while
At least one observer believes the Wizards are ready to blow up. In a good way.
