Bradley Beal Exploded Out Of His Recent Slump By Scoring A Career-High 51 Points

The Washington Wizards are one of those teams that has a defined pecking order. Nearly every game, John Wall is the team’s go-to guy, Bradley Beal is Option 1A, and everyone else fills in the gaps as needed. It’s a natural hierarchy that makes sense, and you can argue that no team does a better job at broadly defining all of these roles better than Washington.

So when Wall was ruled out for two weeks with a knee injury, that threw a temporary wrench into the whole operation. The hierarchy got shuffled, with some moves being obvious (say, backup point guard Tim Frazier is now starting) and some being less obvious but still big in the grand scheme of things.

For example, with Wall out, this is Beal’s team. While the Wizards have players like Kelly Oubre and Otto Porter who are constantly growing as players and getting better at what they do, when Wall is sidelined, Beal is the guy. Seeing as how Wall has not missed more than five games in a season since 2013-14, this is a new thing for Washington. Sure, there are nights when Beal is playing well and things are run through him, but he’s never had to be “the man” before.

Wall has not played since the Wizards’ 129-124 loss to Charlotte on Nov. 22. Here’s how Beal has done since then.

• Portland 108, Washington 105: 26 points (10-for-24 shooting, 3-for-10 from three), seven assists
• Washington 92, Minnesota 89: Eight points (2-for-11, 0-for-1), six assists
• Philadelphia 118, Washington 113: 21 points (6-for-12, 4-for-5), four rebounds, fouled out in 23 minutes
• Washington 109, Detroit 91: 10 points (4-for-11, 0-for-3), seven turnovers
• Utah 116, Washington 69: 11 points (4-for-15, 0-for-4)

Basically, the returns on things were mixed. He had a nice game against Washington, didn’t play poorly against Philly despite fouling out, and laid three eggs. The Wizards went 2-3 during this stretch. Things were especially bad after the team got wrecked by Utah, and Beal said this to the Washington Post.

“I put a lot on my shoulders because I’ve got to do better and I’ve got to play better and lead better,” Beal said. “We’ve all got to hold each accountable. We’ve got to be more consistent on a nightly basis, everybody one through 15.”

The message was clear: Not only do I know I have to play better, but I want to be the guy everyone turns to, whether it’s for a bucket or for leadership. And beyond that, we need to be better as a team.

So Beal thought it would be fun to come out and light the dang earth on fire against the Blazers. The two teams met to start Washington’s stretch without Wall and lost. This time, the Wizards won 106-92 behind a career-high 51 points from Beal on 21-for-37 shooting.

Look at how Beal ruthlessly attacked the rim over and over as he worked to get into a groove. Watch as he shoots jumper after jumper, his form as pure as it’s always been dating back to his days at Florida. And look at how doing that stuff gives him the confidence to start taking opponents 1-on-1, as he started hoisting up shots off the dribble that kept going in.

This is what it looks like when a player has been struggling for the last however many games and eventually figured it out, and it was awesome. Beal has always been an insanely fun basketball player, the type of guy who is capable of having big games on any given night because he’s that dangerous of a scorer.

This, though, was different. This was Beal showing just how good he can be when he has to shoulder the load with Wall on the sidelines. It is not ideal — John Wall is also an insanely fun basketball player — but it’s making the best of a rough situation.

Hopefully Wall comes back as soon as possible, because the NBA is a better place when he and Beal are hammering opposing backcourts on a nightly basis. But when he comes back, it’d be great if the Beal that relentlessly went at Portland on Tuesday night joined him.

“I haven’t been having that approach,” Beal said when asked about having the mentality of putting the Wizards on his back. “I’ve been kind of … I was getting in my own head. I was trying to be a point guard, trying to do everything, and trying to put a little bit too much pressure on myself instead of just playing my game.”

Beal gave us a glimpse on Tuesday night of what happens when he plays his game. He confirmed what everyone already knows: When Bradley Beal is locked in, he’s capable of being a star.