The Washington Wizards walked into Madison Square Garden on Wednesday evening looking to build on the success of their two previous preseason games, and thanks to an otherworldly night from Jordan Poole, they did just that. The Wizards took down the Knicks by a final score of 131-106.
FIRST LOOKS
After being sidelined for the first two preseason games of the year, Wizards fans got to see the preseason debut of two important wings on Wednesday night: Deni Avdija and Patrick Baldwin Jr.
With Kyle Kuzma not suiting up, Avdija got the start at the four. Offensively, it wasn’t Avdija’s best night (two points on 1-of-4 shooting), but he immediately reminded Wizards fans of his biggest strength: defensive versatility. He was matched up with the powerful force that is Julius Randle for most of the night, and all things considered, Avdija did a nice job of making things tough on the Knicks’ All-Star forward.
“I thought Deni’s effort was tremendous,” said Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. “He played a very physical game, and I thought he was very disciplined. Didn’t foul. That was a good sign.”
Patrick Baldwin Jr., a standout for the Wizards at Summer League, looked solid in his 12 minutes. His deep shot wasn’t falling (0-of-3) but he was moving well and defending at a high level. For a natural shooter like Baldwin, the ball will find the bottom of the net in due time.
JORDAN POOLE FILLING IT UP
Poole was the main story of the night. He set the tone right off the bat, scoring the Wizards’ first nine points. He got in the scoring column by getting to the rim and drawing a foul, then he stepped into a 28-footer and drained it. After that deep triple, you could tell it was going to be Poole’s night. He had that look in his eye and the results followed.
At the half, Poole had a whopping 29 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting from deep. Of course, he wasn’t done there. Poole got the party started in the third quarter with another three-ball and the onslaught continued.
Poole subbed out of the game with 1:52 left in the third quarter and with the Wizards well in control, he never needed to re-enter the game. In just 27 minutes, Poole poured in 41 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field, 6-of-12 shooting from deep, and 15-of-16 shooting from the charity ᵴtriƥe. From a scoring perspective, it was an absolute clinic by the young guard.
“He was aggressive,” said Unseld Jr. “A lot of that is getting downhill. He got to the line… That’s gonna be great for us — just playing downhill. And he has the ability to shoot the three off the bounce.”
MIKE MUSCALA BRINGING THE HEAT
Poole wasn’t the only Wizard that had it cooking. Veteran big man Mike Muscala came off the bench and had his sights dialed in from deep. It started off with one made three, and then another happened. And then another, and then another, and then another. He couldn’t miss, and before you knew it, Muscala was 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point territory in the first half.
Muscala finished the game with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from deep. He also hauled in eight boards.
While Poole and Muscala were leading the charge, the Wizards as a unit were generated quality looks from beyond the arc at a high clip. They knocked down 20 triples on 45 attempts — a mark that pleased their head coach.
“Some of it’s our spacing, the ball movement,” said Unseld Jr. when asked about the Wizards’ heavy dosage of threes over the last two games. “And I think it does play into the strength of some of our guys, so they have a propensity to shoot ’em. And we’re finding guys in rhythm, creating enough action to distort the defense at times and coverage confusion. And you know, it helps when those go in because now it just stretches the defense even further.”
Source: nba.com