Role players step up as surging Wizards find winning formula
Glance at a box score from the past two games and it might look as though the Washington Wizards have perfected their winning formula while on the West Coast.
This is no surprise equation: The Wizards extended their winning streak to five games with a 127-124 overtime victory over the reigning league champion Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, much the same way they beat Portland on Saturday — Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook were both staggeringly efficient, and Washington's defence showed up. Not exactly astrophysics.
But ask Beal, and the Wizards' hot streak has a bit more complexity under the surface.
“Everybody's involved, it's not just me and Russ carrying the whole offence,” Beal said.
“We're keeping everybody involved, and then defensively, it takes all five. We're being better at that.”
The Wizards are getting significant contributions from up and down the roster, from starting centre Moritz Wagner's energy in wins over Boston and Houston last week, to backup centre Robin Lopez's steady defence, to forward Rui Hachimura's defensive growth, and the return of Davis Bertans' well-timed three-pointers.
The Wizards credit their newfound well-roundedness to a practice a couple of weeks ago in which everyone's role on the team was clearly defined and players all “bought in,” Beal said Monday, to performing their specific jobs to the fullest.
“Playing hard is something that we should do automatically, we get paid to do that,” Beal said. “But playing with IQ, being ready to go, defending, knowing personnel when you come into the game, like, these are all things and areas of growth that we've been having the last couple games, and it's been great.”
CUBAN SAYS MAVS AREN'T SHOPPING PORZINGIS
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban shot down rumours that big man Kristaps Porzingis is on the trading block.
Responding to multiple reports that Dallas was feeling out possible trade partners, Cuban issued a flat denial to the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday.
“It's not accurate,” he said. “We have not discussed him in a trade at all. Has not happened.”
Porzingis, 25, is averaging 20.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in 17 games this season. He was inactive for Monday night's 102-92 win over the Memphis Grizzlies due to back stiffness.
The Mavericks are 8-9 with Porzingis in the starting lineup and 6-6 without him.
Porzingis missed training camp following meniscus surgery in his right knee in October and has had to play his way into shape this season.
He made the All- Star team with the Knicks in 2017-18 and has career averages of 18.6 points and 7.7 rebounds in 260 games (259 starts) with New York (2015-18) and Dallas.
PAU GASOL CONFIRMS RETURN TO FC BARCELONA
Spanish basketball great Pau Gasol has announced he's returning to boyhood club Barcelona after nearly two decades in the NBA, three days after denying reports he had signed for the Catalans.
“I'm very happy to announce I'm coming home and that I'll soon join the ranks of Barca's basketball team,” Gasol, a two-time NBA champion and six-time All Star player, wrote on his official Twitter account on Tuesday.
Gasol, 40, has been out of action since 2019 due to a series of ankle injuries, last playing for the Milwaukee Bucks.
His return to Barca gives him the opportunity to get back to full fitness in time to represent Spain at this year's rescheduled Olympics, having earned silver medals in 2008 and 2012, and bronze in 2016.
Widely regarded as the best Spanish player ever, Gasol began his career with Barcelona in 1998, leaving for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001.
He won back-to-back NBA titles with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and later played for the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs before his brief spell in Milwaukee, where he played only three games due to injury.
His brother Marc, who also began his career with Barca, remains in the NBA, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers last November.