After finally capturing their first win of the season, the Washington Wizards and rookie Deni Avdija face their toughest challenge to date in Brooklyn on Sunday night. The Nets have looked the part of an Eastern Conference contender behind superstar duo Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, and undoubtedly pose several challenging assignments for Washington.
The Wizards secured their first victory of the year in Minnesota by playing what has become their signature brand of basketball under Head Coach Scott Brooks, shooting the lights out of the ball to cancel out a poor defense. The issue for the Wizards entering the Minnesota game was that even despite averaging an impressive 115 points per game, their defense allowed a ridiculous 122 points per game. Against competition that wasn’t exactly top tier, aside from the season opener in Philadelphia, the Wizards were letting teams like Orlando and Chicago look like top three offenses.

Russell Westbrook EPA-EFE/Rob Carr
You can’t win consistently without an at least average defense, and quite honestly Fridays’ win did little to disprove Washington’s defense won’t continue to be a problem in the immediate future. The Timberwolves were operating without their best player, Karl-Anthony Towns, and therefore a lackluster offensive performance out of Minnesota would have been understandable. Yet the Wizards’ defense did what it has done all season, allowing a Wolves squad missing their most talented scorer to outperform their team scoring average by four points. Yes, the fire all of your bullets and hope you sink your enemy’s ship before yours goes down strategy is capable of beating the KAT-less Timberwolves, but without improving the defense to that of a middle of the pack unit winning consistently is out of the question.
Avdija found success against Minnesota as not only a secondary scoring option, yet also as a facilitator and ball handler in brief stretches with starting point guard Russell Westbrook sitting for rest and Beal off the floor. Avdija is valuable enough to see floor time for Washington as a three-point shooter with the length and agility to pose mismatches defensively, but if he can both produce and develop as a decision-maker with Beal and Westbrook out of the game, the rookie becomes immensely more valuable this season.

Kevin Durant and guard Kyrie Irving EPA-EFE/Peter Foley
Now for Avdija’s upcoming matchup with Brooklyn, the Israeli rookie is likely to primarily face both Kevin Durant and Joe Harris. Durant needs little introduction as quite possibly the most unguardable one on one scorer in today’s game and the task of guarding the ten-time All-Star is more a learning experience for Avdija than anything else. On Harris, Avdija must be prepared for a knockdown shooter capable of catching unprepared defenders off guard and slipping into the lane. Harris is certainly a much more guardable player than Durant in terms of shot-creating ability, yet Harris is one of the league’s best from beyond the arc and possesses the length to pose challenges defensively.
For the Wizards to continue their momentum into Brooklyn and pick up their second win, Avdija and the rest of Washington’s frontcourt must come prepared to force the ball out of Durant’s hands. In all likelihood, this is an impossible task, and the result will be a game the Nets win with a combined team’s score of near 300. Nonetheless, look for Avdija to continue to get opportunities from long range as well as occasional possessions as the primary decision-maker.

Kyrie Irving Thomas Bryant EPA-EFE/Peter Foley
The Wizards travel to Brooklyn Sunday night for a 6 p.m. meeting with the Nets in a series of road games against the Eastern Conferences’ best, playing at Philadelphia on Wednesday and in Boston next Friday.
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