There have been good players in bad teams before, but Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards set a new standard to combine brilliance and futility.
For the third time this season, Beal settled for more than 40 points on Wednesday. He specifically scored 47 points on 17 of 37 shots with six assists, four rebounds, four steals and only three times. It was an excellent game from the NBA’s leading scorer this season.
The Wizards are still losing by 18 points to the 6-10 New Orleans Pelicans.
It may sound familiar if you have been following the Wizards over the past year, as it seems that no point from Beal is enough to achieve a victory. Three times in the past year, Beal has achieved a career high just for his team to lose, the last time he broke a 60-point franchise record in a loss.
In fact, the Wizards have now lost ten games in which Beal scored 40 or more points, bringing a decades-old record set by Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy of the 1961-62 Chicago Packers.
Per @EliasSports: Bradley Beal has now lost ten consecutive games, where he has scored 40 or more points.
This is now the longest series in NBA history, stretching to last season.
Beal was tied for 9 games with Walt Bellamy.
– Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) 28 January 2021
Here’s what the state looks like in screengrab form:
Altogether, Beal now scores 36.8 points per game in Wizards losses and 30.7 wins. Overall, he scored an NBA-best 35.4 points per game for the 3-11 Wizards.
This was in the context in which his wife, Kamiah Adams-Beal, tweeted:
Beal himself did not sound very enthusiastic after the match either:
Bradley Beal when asked if he is frustrated: “Is the sky blue?”
– Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) 28 January 2021
Before you start photoshopping with Beal in the uniform of your favorite team, you should know that Beal may have been talking about the Wizards’ recent injury / COVID-19 situation and refers to his desire to stay in the city minutes earlier.
The Wizards are in a bad place
In the defense of the Wizards, this loss was at least understandable despite Beal’s 47 points. Exhibit A: This injuries / illness report.
For those who score at home, the group includes the Wizards’ starting point guard, starting small forward, starting power forward, starting center and a significant portion of the team’s rotation off the bench. All of the players were unavailable due to the long-term consequences of a COVID-19 outbreak, injury or, in the case of Russell Westbrook, rest. The two-week dismissal due to the outbreak probably did not help the players either.
The kind of staff loss is how a player like Beal places a season high of 37 field goal attempts.
However, Beal was not exactly perfect in losses, even if he was in a bunch. His points per game in losses are higher, but his setbacks per game, help per game, turnover per game, offensive rating, defensive rating on the field and true shooting percentage all suffer comparatively, while his usage rating soars. In essence, the Wizards seem to repeatedly turn to Beal when things are not working elsewhere, which is often the case.
The possibility of a Beal trade has threatened big over the past few years, and the Wizards have not done much to change that, even though Beal is playing some of the best basketball in his life and insists he wants to win in DC.
Wednesday will only cause a new round of speculation.
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