Accolades for the Wizards seventh consecutive win are being doled out to Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. Deservedly in Westbrook’s case — he was terrific. Less so for Beal, although the guard did finish with 33 points.
What won the game for the Wizards was a stifling second half defense against the league’s least efficient offense.
In the first half, the Wizards were lackadaisical on defense and the 30th ranked Oklahoma City offense got an array of open looks and free runs at the basket, which they converted. At the break, the Thunder had a .577 effective field goal percentage and a 133 offensive rating (points per possession x 100).