Inside The Wizards

Washington Wizards Lose A Winnable Game, 'I Think They Just Wanted It More Than Us'; says Forward Kyle Kuzma

Observations from the Washington Wizards loss to the Charlotte Hornets 124-117.

Gage Sheets

Washington Wizards Lose A Winnable Game, 'I Think They Just Wanted It More Than Us'; says Forward Kyle Kuzma
Washington Wizards Lose A Winnable Game, 'I Think They Just Wanted It More Than Us'; says Forward Kyle Kuzma /
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The Washington Wizards lose 124-117 to the Charlotte Hornets at home, leaving them with a 2-6 record.

A close loss hurts but it hurts even more when you lead for 42 minutes like the Wizards did.

Rebounding and interior defense are still clear issues for Washington.

It was an absolutely dominating performance from the Hornets on the boards ending the game with a 67-36 rebound discrepancy.

READ MORE: Wizards Need To Improve In This Area

"I think they just wanted it more than us," Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma said on the teams rebounding performance. "They played much harder then us and thats reflective, you know rebounds is effort."

We know that Washington is struggling with rebounding the ball but that they have to be able to limit offensive rebounds and second chance points to opposing teams.

They didn't do either of those thing against Charlotte giving up a whopping 28 offensive rebounds and 32 second chance points.

Most of the damage came from Hornets center Mark Williams who had 24 rebounds, 15 of which were offensive rebounds.

Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija (8) looks to pass during the artist half against the Charlotte Hornets at Capital One Arena.
Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija (8) looks to pass during the artist half against the Charlotte Hornets at Capital One Arena / Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Those 15 offensive rebounds were more then any Wizards player had total, center Daniel Gafford led the team with nine.

Washington's guard play from the starters Jordan Poole and Tyus Jones has left more to be desired.

Neither player is contributing with rebounds, both struggle to defend anyone, and specifically Poole is extremely inefficient shooting the ball.

READ MORE: Wizards Can't Hold Lead, Lose To Hornets

It wasn't any different against Charlotte as Poole struggled from the floor only scoring 14 points and Jones had an awful -29 plus/minus.

When Jones was on the floor last night specifically in the fourth quarter, the Wizards were getting killed.

On the positives, Washington forward Deni Avdija had another great game including this awesome behind-the-back pass below.

Rookie forward Bilal Coulibaly also had a great game, especially defensively and was able to hit two threes, score 10 points and ended up with a 15 plus/minus.

Washington guard Delon Wright had another great night off the bench finishing with a 22 plus/minus, but unfortunately left the game with 11 minutes to go in the fourth.

After Wright left the game everything unraveled for the Wizards and Charlotte ended the game on a 36-18 run.

The fix is simple for the Wizards, rebound the ball better especially down the stretch and it all comes down to effort.

You can follow Gage Sheets on Twitter @SheetsG23

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Gage Sheets
GAGE SHEETS

Gage is entering his first season covering the Washington Wizards and brings a lifetime of passion for sports with him. He is a veteran of the United States Navy and a proud husband and father of two. You can follow or reach out to Gage on X @SheetsG23

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