Washington Wizards Tyus Jones Mysteriously Absent in 4th Quarter vs. Milwaukee Bucks

With the game within reach Washington Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. pulled guard Tyus Jones and decided not to put him back in as the Milwaukee Bucks pulled away.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Wizards (2-11) dropped their sixth game in a row in a 142-129 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks (10-4) on Monday night.

You might not guess it from the final score but the Wizards were actually in a position to try and pull off the upset trailing by just two points in headed to the fourth quarter.

One reason Washington faded into their 11th loss in 13 games was the mysterious absence of guard Tyus Jones, who didn’t play a second of the fourth quarter yet still finished with 18 points in just 26 minutes.

“The point was I wanted a little bit more size to keep on [Bucks guard Damian Lillard], to handle [forward Giannis Antetonkounmpo] and hopefully help us rebound,” coach Wes Unseld Jr. said when asked about the reasoning behind leaving Jones on the bench in the fourth quarter. “Didn’t quite get the benefit of that, but I think he understands the rationale. I thought he was great early in the game, getting downhill, playing out of pick and rolls but I just wanted to try and keep a little more size with the matchups.”

In scoring 18 points through three quarters Jones made 9-of-13 shots from the field and contributed to further scoring three assists, all while playing his typical brand of basketball committing zero turnovers. 

During the team’s best stretch of the night Jones teamed up with forward Corey Kispert and guard Bilal Coulibaly who both entered the third quarter at the midway point with the Wizards facing a 10 point.

Leaving the court were forward Deni Avdija and guard Jordan Poole, and from that point on Washington was able to close the 10-point divide completely, drawing to a tie at 100 points for each team with just over one minute left in the quarter.

Milwaukee traded buckets with the Wizards after that and Antetokounmpo was able to drop in a layup at the end of the quarter to give his team the two-point advantage entering the fourth.

And that’s when Unseld made the decision he says Jones understood, the one that would leave the veteran guard on the bench for the final 12 minutes of the game. 

‘’Obviously everyone is a competitor, you know, everyone wants to be out there,” Jones said about sitting in the fourth. “Kind of how it unfolded it was just how the game went. The matchups - it got kind of late into the fourth there was a stretch where there wasn’t a whistle for a little bit. We talked, we were in communication, I told him, ‘Just let that group go,’ after a certain point. That’s all it is. Obviously I want to be out there. I want to help close games, I want to help lead the team, but at the same time I’m going to be always everyone’s biggest fan…It’s always about the team.”

Washington Wizards guard Tyus Jones (5) shoots the ball over Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) in the first quarter at Capital One Arena / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Like Jones pointed out, at a certain point in the fourth quarter the game had pretty well gotten away from Washington.

From there it turned to a situation where getting the unit on the court some more run to try and find some success was more important.

Looking back on it, that point likely came around the midway point of the fourth quarter after the Bucks stretched their lead back out to 11 points. 

There was, however, a timeout called by Milwaukee with 7:37 left in the game with Washington trailing by seven points that could have served as an opportune time to get Jones back in with a puncher’s chance of getting back into the game.

In that spot the Wizards were being out-rebounded seven to five in the quarter and five to one in the minutes leading up to the Bucks’ timeout. 

Unseld put forward Danilo Gallinari and Coulibaly into the game in that spot, and took center Daniel Gafford off.

It appears at that time the desire for height dissipated, but the desire for a more efficient form of basketball did not return in its place.

Washington Wizards Rookie Bilal Coulibaly 'Wasn't Scared of the Moment'

The result was a loss, granted one that may have been in the cards even if Jones was back on the floor.

But the disappearance and confusing decision to stick with that plan with the game slipping away but still in reach adds just another layer of questions to a season full of them already.

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You can follow David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82

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