NBA teams
Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Bradley Beal still has support of John Wall, Wizards after sluggish start

Washington Wizards

TORONTO -- After Bradley Beal missed his fourth 3-pointer, the Washington Wizards All-Star shooting guard passed on attempting another 3 and took it strong to the rim, only to watch Serge Ibaka swoop in and emphatically reject his shot.

This pretty much summed up Beal's frustrating night, during which he spent most of it in foul trouble before being limited to nine points and 3-for-11 shooting in a 130-119 Game 2 loss to the Raptors.

With the Wizards falling behind by as much as 22 points in the first quarter, Beal would go on to finish with a plus-minus of -34. According to ESPN Stats and Information research, that is the worst plus-minus by any Wizards player in the past 20 postseasons.

But it doesn't take stats to see that Beal was out of his normal smooth-shooting rhythm, especially when the game was on the line. Though he shot 8-for-17 and scored 19 points in Game 1, he went 3-for-11 from behind the arc combined in the first two games in Toronto. In the fourth quarters of this series so far, the Raptors have held Beal to a total of two points on 1-for-7 shooting, including 0-for-4 from 3-point range.

"I really won't know what to say, that is up to Brad to tell you," Wizards point guard John Wall said when asked about what might be wearing on Beal. "He's been our MVP this year, he's held it down a lot while I have been out. He is not going to make excuses about playing the most minutes [of his career] or being fatigued.

"We have to do a better job, and me as a point guard, of getting him involved and trying to find him shots to make it easier on him. And I know he will be very tough on himself; he is definitely going to get in the gym and get up extra shots and find ways to be more aggressive. We definitely need his scoring and his ability to create for others to make our team better and compete against this team."

After averaging a career-high 36.3 minutes this season and playing 82 games for the first time in his six-year career, the 39.3 percent career 3-point shooter could be feeling the effects of trying to keep Washington afloat while Wall was out for two months due to knee surgery. Beal averaged 22.6 points and career highs of 4.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds this season.

Beal deflected any excuses for his Game 2 performance, which certainly got off to a bad start after he picked up his second personal foul with 3:59 remaining in the first quarter. Wall already had been whistled for his second foul with 7:42 left in the first quarter, when the Wizards were down by 11. Without those two All-Stars, Washington would fall behind 37-15 before entering the second quarter trailing 44-27.

"Not really," Beal said when asked if averaging the most minutes of his career and carrying more responsibility with Wall out has caught up to him. "I mean John's back, so it would be totally different if he wasn't, then it would be a different story. Even if he wasn't, I still wouldn't make an excuse for it.

"Everybody has played 82 games this year, that is how many you are supposed to play; but at the same time, it does wear on you, you do get tired. But it's a mental thing, that is not an excuse for me."

Beal, who said Tuesday morning before Game 2 that the Raptors had been grabbing and holding him on defense and that he had to make it more difficult for Toronto to do that by moving without the ball, bit his lip and would not go into explaining his early foul trouble.

With Wall scoring 22 of his 29 points in the second half and getting Washington within five points of Toronto in the fourth before DeMar DeRozan (37 points) put the game out of reach, the Wizards have to find a way to get their franchise point guard more help.

Getting Beal going again at home is vital for the Wizards to have any shot in this best-of-seven series.

"The Raptors are doing a good job of being physical with him," Washington coach Scott Brooks said of Beal. "He missed some open shots. He hasn't been able to get to the lane and get to the free throw line. That's a little bit on him, a little bit on me, a little bit on John.

"We need him. We are going to have trouble beating this team if he doesn't play better, and he will."

Game 3 on Friday night back in D.C. will give Beal and the rest of the Wizards a chance to bounce back from their early 2-0 first-round hole, something they say they can do.

"We have been in this same situation a year [ago], playing in Boston, being down 2-0 early and then winning the next two and making it into a seven-game series," Beal said.

"We got to go back to the drawing board," he added. "Get two at home, take care of our house and keep our hopes alive."

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