Things haven’t exactly gone as planned for the Washington Wizards this season. After the blockbuster deal that sent Russell Westbrook to D.C. in exchange for John Wall and other assets, the Wizards were hoping it would be just the shakeup they need to fight their way back to relevance.
Instead, the losses have been piling up, and in the process, they’ve resulted in wasted efforts on the part of Bradley Beal, who has single-handedly tried to keep his team afloat with superstar-level performances, but whose frustration is more and more apparent with each demoralizing loss.
Emotions started to boil over on Friday night against the Hawks, with things getting chippy early between Westbrook and Rajon Rondo, although cooler heads would momentarily prevail after they were both hit with technical fouls.
Westbrook and Rondo both got technical fouls after exchanging words 👀 pic.twitter.com/KPWuMNyUTM
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 30, 2021
Later, it was Robin Lopez who would be the first to get tossed — while standing on the sideline, no less — for arguing a call with the official and picking up two quick technicals.
It’s getting tense at Capital One Arena.
– Bradley Beal receives a tech after not getting the foul call
– Robin Lopez is ejected after arguing with a ref about a delay of game call on Beal. pic.twitter.com/6lOW7QhZDI
— NBCSports Washington (@NBCSWashington) January 30, 2021
And Westbrook would soon follow his teammate to the locker room early in the fourth quarter, which prompted Rondo to give him a nice farewell to help send him on his way.
Rondo waved at Westbrook after he got ejected. 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/C62rAgRoeR
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) January 30, 2021
In the end, the Hawks ran away with this one, 116-100. Bradley Beal led the way with 26 points, but was 0-of-8 from downtown and finished a minus-17 on the night. It was the Wizards’ third straight loss, which keeps them firmly in possession of the league’s worst record.
