The Washington Wizards own the NBA’s second-worst record at 6-23, but there have been some encouraging signs the past few weeks.
A week ago, the Wizards defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 130-122. In that game, Washington erased a 20-point first-half deficit and recorded its biggest come-from-behind victory of the season.
Memphis visits Washington on Sunday as the Wizards try to build on an even more impressive win. On Friday night, they knocked off Toronto by posting their highest-scoring output of the season in a 138-117 triumph. Washington shot 59.3% and got 23 points from Kyshawn George, who made nine of his 13 shot attempts.
In what has been a trying season for Wizards coach Brian Keefe, the results during the holiday season have him filled with good cheer.
“We had 60-something (points) in the paint,” Keefe said following the win over Toronto. “We just made the right play over and over again. We kept trusting each other.”
“Our team is really growing offensively with our sharing and our spacing and our passing. We are finishing possessions. But the key was finishing with big fourth-quarter defense. It all started with the ‘D’ in the fourth.”
Keefe said he has seen encouraging signs. He hopes the wins over Memphis and Toronto are the spark.
“We want to keep getting better,” Keefe said. “We wanted to take care of the paint defensively (against Toronto) and we did that.
“Our passing — seeing the open man, hitting the roller, or skipping to the weak side. That stuff is growing. For us, it’s always about the process. That’s going to lead to wins, we believe.”
Memphis enters Sunday’s game against the Wizards trying to reach the .500 mark for the second time in as many weeks. The Grizzlies were in a similar position when they played Washington on Dec. 20 in Memphis.
The return of star point guard Ja Morant has the injury-prone Grizzlies in a seemingly better position. After missing four games, Morant was back in the lineup Friday night and led the Grizzlies to a 125-104 victory over Milwaukee. He finished with 17 points, 10 assists, and two steals and was the catalyst in the team recovering from a 10-point first-quarter deficit.
Morant hopes he can stay on the court for a lengthy run, something that has been difficult for him this season. He has appeared in back-to-back games just once since Veterans Day.
He’s trying to get back in game shape, though he had to play within a minutes restriction Friday. He logged 25 minutes against the Bucks.
“Just getting some more consecutive games under my belt (will help),” Morant said. “Feeling the gym environment . . . the physicality, all that goes into rhythm. Right now, we have a lot of guys that are down, so we don’t have too many resources where, when I was out, I could bump with people and stuff. We need guys available. That was an interesting part, but we got it done. I’m back in the rotation, trying to continue to take care of my body, stack these games up and that rhythm will come.”
Morant appeared to find a comfort level in the second quarter against Milwaukee. He opened the quarter by scoring six points and assisting on two other baskets. His energy and efficiency helped the Grizzlies outscore the Bucks 35-15 in the second quarter to take a 60-50 halftime lead. Memphis never trailed again.
