WASHINGTON — The Washington Wizards have many issues. Coaching is certainly among them after the team’s fifth straight loss came to a 3-8 Indiana Pacers squad that had lost seven of its last eight games and played without its best player.
But it’s far from the only problem on a 4-8 team that can’t make threes, turns it over at an alarming rate and struggles on the glass. A sequence from the first quarter of Wednesday’s 114-101 loss encapsulated Washington’s early season struggles.
Kyshawn George, who tallied six turnovers, sailed a lob pass to AJ Dybantsa, which allowed the Pacers to run on the fastbreak. Aaron Nesmith missed a pull-up three, but nobody boxed out. Trae Young and Alex Sarr stood and watched as Pascal Siakam rose for one of Indiana’s 14 offensive rebounds and tapped it in.
Anthony Davis airballed an open three on the ensuing possession to complete the trifecta of Washington’s struggles: careless turnovers, poor defensive rebounding and horrid 3-point shooting.
