Clippers beat Wizards 105-100 in bubble scrimmage

It was a bit like “Who’s the line anyway?” where the games are made up and the points don’t matter. Still, for what it’s worth, the Wizards lost their second straight scrimmage at Orlando Bubble, this time a 105-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

After falling behind in the second quarter, the Wizards fell back and took what appeared to be control in the third quarter. His biggest lead was 12 midway through the third and the Clippers seemed lethargic and out of place. It was then that Doc Rivers dispatched the bank unit, and Washington’s lead diminished.

The level of play was quite poor at all times. Both teams fought on offense. The Wizards had an effective field goal percentage of just 39.6% while the Clippers shot 56.0%, but Washington stayed in the game by crashing the offensive glass and capitalizing on a rotation differential of plus five.

The game, of course, does not mean anything in the ranking. This was to help the boys get back to the game form and acclimatize to the strange atmosphere. The Wizards’ performances were a mixed bag most of the time not very good. Some observations:

• Rui Hachimura – He looked excellent in the first half and horrible in the second. He seems more willing to drive than in The Before Times, but he’s still settling for too many pullups and mid-range shots. He had several solid defensive possessions against Kawhi Leonard, but fell asleep with cuts and changes in the second half.
• Isaac Bonga – He could have been the best player on the team tonight. He attacked a few times with dribble penetration, including a drive where he made contact with Paul George and ended the one-one.
• Thomas Bryant – Decent gameplay, including 3-7 shots from a three point range. He had very good defensive possession after being traded to Leonard, forcing two lengths, which Leonard lost. He was also overpowered on the edge multiple times. You need to get stronger.
• Jerome robinson – It seemed a little good sometimes in the first half. The second half was tough. He’s almost a decent defender, but he can’t stay on the ground if he doesn’t hit shots.
• Moritz Wagner – Terrible performance. Only 1-7 shots, plus a couple of turnovers. Wagner’s only defensive ability seems to be charging charges, which would be nice if he didn’t crash the game six times trying to get the call (no, that’s not a real statistic). Forcing the other team to miss shots is what makes a good defense in the NBA. Wagner needs to challenge shots and reduce failure.
• Admiral Schofield He reportedly lost weight, but still looks stiff and slow. If he works hard and engages in great defense and hits three, he can play a role. However, I don’t see an NBA player.
• Jarrod Uthoff – He bounced back well, showed some eye-catching ball-handling skills and made a couple of nice passes that would have been assists if teammates hadn’t shot easy shots. It would be good for him to have more minutes and to be more aggressive looking for his shot.

Below are the scores for tonight’s game from my metric, Player Production Average (PPA). PPA is a general production measure that rewards players for the things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, assisting, defending) and charges them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, fouls , poor defense). At PPA, 100 is average and higher is better.