CJ McCollum made a fuss. Career-high tying 50 points Leads the New Orleans Pelicans to their sixth win of the season. washington wizards on Friday night. And while losing half of them to a player who had only scored 25 or more points in a game five times before this season may seem depressing enough for Wizards fans, Not the saddest statistic of the night. .
That honor goes instead to this fact from our friend Greg Finberg of Bullets Forever. He pointed out that of the NBA's 50-point games allowed this season, half are against a woeful professional basketball team based in Washington.
There were eight games in the NBA this season with a difference of 50 points.
Four of those came against the Washington Wizards.
D. Fox: 60
G. Antetokounmpo: 59
N. Jokic: 56 (vs. WAS)
J. Brunson: 55 (vs. WAS)
C. McCallum: 50 (vs. WAS)
V. Wenbanyama: 50 (vs. WAS)
L. Ball: 50
P. Banchero: 50— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) January 4, 2025
The Wizards also allowed him to score that many points in 31 minutes, two points less than his average this season.
It's not necessarily breaking news that a 6-26 team is bad defensively, but you'd think at some point the Wizards would develop some level of professional pride. We were able to rally around the idea, “Let's at least stop this guy at age 49.''
That said, the words “professional” and “prideful” haven't been words often used to describe the Wizards over the past two seasons, so perhaps this is a nod to the extremely unserious Jordan Poole/ It may be a fitting (or dishonorable) honor for a player from the Kyle Kuzma era. Thats. And given the growth of young players like Bilal Koulibaly and the fact that the team is finally, mercifully, attempting a true demolition and rebuilding despite only being in its second season, it's hard to imagine fans looking forward to the future. At least there is reason to have hope. …But hey, it could be a long few years for D.C. basketball fans.
Or maybe this era can be great if you look at it through a different lens. After all, for the fans, other NBA stars based in America's capital can watch their team hit career highs while the home team plays carnival basketball, at least if they buy tickets to see their team play the Wizards. There's a pretty good chance to see it! Washington sales staff should put that in their ads.
