NBA Game Action : 12/18/2021

DreamShook · Dec 18, 2021

times are CENTRAL
- Visitor - Home Time
HOUSTON (9-20)
ROCKETS DETROIT (4-23)
PISTONS 11:00 am
NY (13-16)
KNICKS BOSTION (14-15)
CELTICS 6:00 pm
(NBATV)
ORLANDO (5-25)
MAGIC BROOKLYN (21-8)
NETS 6:30 pm
GS (24-5)
WARRIORS TORONTO (13-15)
RAPTORS 6:30 pm
LA (16-13)
CLIPPERS OKC (8-19)
THUNDER 7:00 pm
CLEVELAND (18-12)
CAVALIERS MILLY (19-12)
BUCKS 8:00 pm
WASHINGTON (15-15)
WIZARDS UTAH (20-8)
JAZZ 8:00 pm
I STOLE THIS GIF FROM i3artow i3aller

LIKE HIS ORIGINAL POST HERE!

CLUTCH FORMAT

HardenVolumeOne · Dec 18, 2021

Hope stephens curry shooting slump continues

that is all

DeBeards · Dec 18, 2021

HardenVolumeOne · Dec 18, 2021

DeBeards said: ↑

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damn

DeBeards · Dec 18, 2021

uh oh

DeBeards · Dec 18, 2021

DeBeards said: ↑

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that's why!
a party animal...

HardenVolumeOne · Dec 18, 2021

DeBeards said: ↑

that's why!
a party animal...

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i see my boy Evan is sysbm to the fullest. These young brothas out here going to where they appreciated and not tolerated. Love to see it

Juxtaposed Jolt · Dec 18, 2021

DeBeards said: ↑

uh oh

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I think Irving has to enter protocols and pass the NBA's tests before rejoining the team. Could be wrong, but I doubt he has Covid.

J.R. · Dec 18, 2021

Early this season, the Washington Wizards played with a high level of resilience and heart that propelled them to one of the best starts in franchise history. They displayed all the right intangibles.

But not anymore. After a 10-3 start, the Wizards are in a free-fall, and the concern isn’t just that they’ve lost seven of their past eight games. How they’ve lost is what’s most worrisome. Most opponents have wiped them out. Even head coach Wes Unseld Jr. agrees his team’s recent struggles go beyond run-of-the-mill slippage.

“This is not the normal amount, in my opinion,” Unseld said after Thursday’s 118-98 loss in Phoenix that dropped the team to 15-15. “It’s been gradual. I mentioned this before: We’ve got to get the care factor up, and we’ve got to get back to playing for each other.”

The Wizards’ effort and unity were not in doubt as they opened the season or even after a Dec. 1 home victory elevated their record to 14-8. But cracks have emerged in the team’s foundation. The once-solid intangibles of energy and grit, which were team strengths and celebrated by the players and Unseld alike, have faded.

The Wizards have trailed by at least 25 points in four of their past eight games and allowed double-digit deficits in each of those contests. Many factors have contributed to the recent slide, including a difficult, road-heavy schedule, adjustments to new teammates and a new coaching staff, and the continued absences of Thomas Bryant and Rui Hachimura. But most of those same obstacles also were present during Washington’s stellar start, and they do not fully explain why it has plummeted this far, this fast.

The Athletic has learned a central issue is that at least several players have concerns about the direction and structure of the team’s offense, particularly whether they as individuals, and by extension the team as a whole, are being put in the best positions to succeed. As confidence in the offense has diminished, players have exerted less effort and exercised less attention to detail on the defensive end, the area the coaching staff has emphasized since the start of training camp.
Frustrations are high, and players have obliquely voiced concerns about the offense during recent media sessions.

“At the end of the day, it’s like the old saying, ‘You’ve got to throw a squirrel a nut,'” center Montrezl Harrell said. “We’re not saying throw it to us and let us clear out and iso and go and do our thing. No. But at the same time, let us feel it, not just off rebounding and then giving it to a guard. No, let us get a touch early to get a shot. Let’s give us something to let us feel like we’re involved in the game as well.”

Like Harrell, point guard Spencer Dinwiddie did not directly criticize anyone. Dinwiddie also noted he supports Bradley Beal receiving more shots than anyone else. But when Dinwiddie was asked why his own numbers and assertiveness have dropped off dramatically in recent weeks, he noted that the Wizards employ an “equal-opportunity system” on offense in which everybody other than Beal takes a nearly uniform number of shots per minute.
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One of the reasons for the decline in effort and attention to detail on defense has been players’ opinions about how they’re being utilized on offense. The Athletic asked Unseld about that issue Saturday after the Wizards’ shootaround in Salt Lake City.

“I think that might be a valid point,” Unseld said. “The challenge, I think, would be for them. If they don’t like where they are or what they’re doing, we could put more time into shooting and doing the individual work, (but also) let’s look at what we’re running, and let’s look at how guys are being used. It’s one thing to just say, ‘Hey, I don’t like it right now.’ Then come talk to me. I think I’ve been more than open to suggestions, more than open with whether it’s criticism or just suggestions. I’m trying to put guys in spots I think can help us collectively. Sometimes it doesn’t involve that guy. Other times, it does. But don’t just complain about it. Let’s talk about it, and let’s fix it.”

Unseld said some players have reached out to him directly in recent days, adding: “I love the feedback. I think that open dialogue helps. It’s one thing for me to say it, because I’m seeing it from a certain lens. And I think it’s also important to take their opinions into consideration because they’re the ones going through it and living it. All I want is what’s best for this group. So if it helps the group, then I’m all ears.”

Unseld nonetheless held firm about his expectations for the defense, saying players’ frustrations with their offensive roles or aggravation at missing shots cannot detract from their effort on defense.

“You’re fighting human nature,” he said, referring to any player who is struggling on offense. “I get that. Whether you feel like you’re involved or you’re not getting a touch or whatever it is — maybe you’re getting a touch and it’s just not going in for you — there’s frustration. That’s a normal, probably human reaction to that. But it shouldn’t affect your energy and focus on the other end.

“Now, do the numbers say, hey, we have to get different guys different looks? Is it we’ve got to get more guys to be aggressive? I think there’s some of that, too. But I don’t think it affects defensive focus or energy — or it shouldn’t.”
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The other night, veteran swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was asked why Washington, without any new injuries, is struggling this much, this quickly, after such a strong start. He was speaking in general terms, but his answer was telling.

It also offers a preliminary road map for the players and coaches to rejuvenate their season.

“It just all boils down to that communication, trusting each other, being able to rely on each other, being able to take criticisms from each other,” Caldwell-Pope said. “There’s a lot that goes into it. We know we’re losing right now, but we can’t let that dictate our play and our trust with each other. We’ve got to find a way to just get it done.”

When asked whether the team is having the honest, face-to-face communication it needs, Caldwell-Pope answered: “We have them talks individually, as a group. I just feel like there’s not enough of them.”
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J.R. · Dec 18, 2021

Kum Bucket feelin’ it tonight!

ElPigto · Dec 18, 2021

J.R. said: ↑

Kum Bucket feelin’ it tonight!

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Clutchfans going to be calling for the Wood/Kuminga swap even harder now.

heypartner · Dec 18, 2021

xaos · Dec 18, 2021

ElPigto said: ↑

Clutchfans going to be calling for the Wood/Kuminga swap even harder now.
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Yeah should've happened a month ago

daywalker02 · Dec 19, 2021

J.R. said: ↑

Kum Bucket feelin’ it tonight!

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KERR ON KUMINGA

Kerr noted that Kuminga had six turnovers and just one rebound in 36 minutes.

“He’s got to get more than one rebound in 36 minutes, especially with that kind of athletic ability,” Kerr said. “He kind of showed how talented he is, how young he is, how high the ceiling is, and how far he has to go, all in one night.”
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Kerr, ahole.

vator · Dec 19, 2021

DeBeards said: ↑

that's why!
a party animal...

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omgTHEpotential · Dec 19, 2021

DeBeards said: ↑

that's why!
a party animal...

Click to expand...

J.R. · Dec 19, 2021

Os Trigonum · Dec 19, 2021

J.R. said: ↑

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omg

daywalker02 · Dec 19, 2021

Os Trigonum said: ↑

omg
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The
Potential！

omgTHEpotential · Dec 19, 2021

-	Visitor	-	Home	Time
	HOUSTON (9-20) ROCKETS		DETROIT (4-23) PISTONS	11:00 am
	NY (13-16) KNICKS		BOSTION (14-15) CELTICS	6:00 pm (NBATV)
	ORLANDO (5-25) MAGIC		BROOKLYN (21-8) NETS	6:30 pm
	GS (24-5) WARRIORS		TORONTO (13-15) RAPTORS	6:30 pm
	LA (16-13) CLIPPERS		OKC (8-19) THUNDER	7:00 pm
	CLEVELAND (18-12) CAVALIERS		MILLY (19-12) BUCKS	8:00 pm
	WASHINGTON (15-15) WIZARDS		UTAH (20-8) JAZZ	8:00 pm

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NBA Game Action : 12/18/2021

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NBA Game Action : 12/18/2021

Who Wins Tonight?

ROCKETS

PISTONS

KNICKS

CELTICS

MAGIC

NETS

WARRIORS

RAPTORS

CAVS

BUCKS

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