Wizards hold players-only meeting amid slide
The Washington Wizards held a players-only meeting after their fifth loss in six games in an attempt to get back on track.
“It’s kind of similar to the past years. We’ve been through the same thing,” shooting guard Bradley Beal told reporters after the Wizards’ 117-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. “It always takes a team meeting or two to figure it out, but we’re at the point now where we know what we need to do.
“We’re still in a great position to make the playoffs with 40 or however many games we have left. We have a great opportunity to make a run, so it’s up to us to be able to put it together and get out here and get some wins.”
The Wizards are 20-24 and are 11th in the Eastern Conference standings — three games behind the Indiana Pacers for the eighth spot — heading into games against Houston, Oklahoma City and Golden State.
“For us, let’s be honest … except for this game, none of the games have been close,” small forward Jared Dudley told reporters. “It’s not a positive. But we have to be positive. We’re close to the halfway point, but we got to get some wins and we got to get some good flow and we got to get back to our style. This team can’t score 80 points. This team is in the 100s. We have to be able to defend the 3 and stop turning the ball over.”
Point guard John Wall, who scored 17 points in the loss to the Nuggets, said the problem lies with the team’s defense, which has allowed opponents to score 100 points or more in nine of the past 10 games.
“It’s nothing offensively,” Wall told reporters. “We just can’t guard a soul.”
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