Markieff Morris played through a sprained ankle in the Washington Wizards’ Game 2 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics. That pain didn’t stop him from turning in perhaps his best performance of the postseason. He tallied 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals while generally playing tough defense before fouling out in the extra period.
Speaking of his toughness: The Wizards didn’t match it—not according to him, per USA Today‘s AJ Neuharth-Keusch:
“We’re not playing tough enough,” Morris, who finished with 16 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes before fouling out in overtime, told reporters in Boston. “We had the advantage late in the game and all we had to do was just play tough. We didn’t have to make shots. We didn’t have to get stops. All we had to do was play tough. We let them get offensive rebounds late in the game. Guys (were) just walking to the basket and we’re just worried about our own personal (expletive). It’s about the team.
“At the end of the day it’s about winning and we didn’t care too much about that tonight. We let them back in the game. We’ve got to regroup and get the next one.”
John Wall was (sort of) right there with Morris. He bemoaned the Wizards’ inability to close quarters strong and protect leads afterward.
Lead protection is, indeed, a problem. The Wizards have jumped out to double-digit advantages in both Games 1 and 2. It’s the them, not the Celtics, who have owned the largest lead in either tilt. And yet Washington has zero wins to show for it:
Celtics are first team in shot-clock era to lead a series 2-0 after trailing by 10 or more at the end of the first quarter in both games.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 3, 2017
Falling into a 2-0 hole typically equates to a playoff death sentence. But the Wizards, by and large, have been dominant on their home floor since Christmas. Win Game 3, and they’re right back in this thing. They’ve shown they can build leads. That’s something.
So, too, is their lack of depth. The Wizards rely too heavily on Wall and the rest of their starters, and when one of them, like Bradley Beal in Game 2, lays down a less-than-stellar performance, it becomes exponentially harder for them to pull out a victory. They’ll have to hope someone other than Kelly Oubre Jr. packs an offensive or defensive punch off the bench in subsequent games, because they’re not making it out of this round with the supporting rotation playing like it is now.
