WASHINGTON — Kyle Kuzma called Friday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets a “must-win game” for the Washington Wizards. But it wasn’t because they were already 0-1 in the new NBA In-Season Tournament and couldn’t afford another loss if they intended to advance.
It was because they needed a win, especially with a road back-to-back coming up next. The tournament had “nothing” to do with how he viewed the game, Kuzma said after the loss. “We’re 2-5. Gotta win.”
That’s what made the loss so hard to swallow. The Wizards had motivation to win beyond the tournament. But after blowing a game they led by as much as 16 and never trailed until the fourth quarter, they fell to 2-6 Friday and became the first team to suffer two losses in the in-season tournament — they were joined by the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies later in the evening.
Washington isn’t mathematically eliminated, but its chances of advancing from Group B of the Eastern Conference are even slimmer than they were to begin with.
The in-season tournament was supposed to add some spice to the regular season and give young teams out of title contention something more to play for. But if the Wizards are an example of what to expect from similar teams in games they need to win for tournament purposes, then don’t expect those teams to suddenly elevate their play to a level they haven’t already shown capable of playing at. They’ll win or lose independent of the stakes.
When asked whether the game felt different than any other regular-season game, Kuzma’s one-word answer was straight to the point. “No.”
After losing to the Miami Heat in their tournament opener last Friday, the Wizards needed a win over Charlotte to give themselves a shot at advancing from the four-game group stage. And though their odds to win the group were already last entering the game, they were favored over the Hornets by 2.5 points at BetMGM.
Without knowing any better, it’d be easy to think those added stakes were the exact reason the Wizards did melt down, allowing Charlotte to outscore them 36-20 in the fourth quarter to steal the game. Then again, that’s the exact type of thing that would happen to a bad team, and a tournament doesn’t change that.
