BULLETS POINTS: Wiz Stumble; Cards Soar

By Mark Bacon

PACERS POUND WIZARDS, 123-106

Last night the Wizards looked completely outclassed and overwhelmed on both ends of the floor against the Indiana Pacers. The Wizards held seven of nine players on the Pacers to just 51 points. The problem was, two other players scored a combined 72 points, shooting 15 of 17 from the three point line.

• Something isn't working here apparently. To put it mildly. DC’s second unit plays faster, moves the ball better and plays much better defense. Jared Dudley (in place of Kris Humphries) and Nene (In place of Gortat) defends better on perimeter pick and rolls, solves other defensive issues demonstrated by the first unit; plus the abundance of ball handlers in the second unit keeps the offense fluid.

• Indiana’s Paul George sunk Washington, 123-106. He scored 40 points on 14-of-19 shooting, going 7-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. It was infectious for the Pacers, who have won five of their previous six games. 

• In addition to George's 40 points, power forward C.J. Miles added 32 more on 10-of-16 shooting, hitting eight of his nine attempts from 3-point land. As a team, the Pacers shot 55 percent from the field; they hit a red hot 73.1 percent from deep. 

• The Wizards scored 106 points; but 45.8 percent from the field (and 39.4 percent from 3-point range) was insufficient.

• Gary Neal led the way for Washington from the bench, hitting five 3-pointers tallying 23 total points on the evening. Nene (11 points, seven rebounds), Ramon Sessions (10 points) and Marcin Gortat (10 points) also reached double-figures. 

• Bradley Beal and John Wall added 20 and 18 points, respectively.

CARDS CRUSH TERRIERS, 85-41

The U of L Cards continued to cruise. Four games into the season, they’re still not even close to a finished product.

• It appears as if Coach Pitino is slowly putting in the 2-3 matchup zone. But they play really strong man defense, moving opponents guards to shot blockers, and the press is getting better. That will change against quality opponents, but it's a good sign that Louisville can execute the more basic elements of its defense with relative ease. 

• St. Francis was never in the game. St. F had 10 1st-half turnovers; never looked comfortable trying to break the press. Which is effective against lesser opponents because of our conditioning and length. 

• Raymond Spalding came off the bench to give the Cardinals a significant boost, chipping in 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in 13 minutes. He went 6-7 from the field—his only miss a dunk. Unfortunately, he went 0-for-3 from the free throw line.

• Damion Lee is a pleasure to watch. Lee turned in a his typical stellar effort -- 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field.

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