Bradley Beal set an NBA record in the Washington Wizards’ loss to the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday night, albeit not one that most players would like to have. He passed Walt Bellamy for first on the all-time list with ten consecutive losses in games where he has scored 40 or more points. The previous record was nine. Beal dropped 47 points on 17-37 shooting in the 124-106 loss. He also tacked on six assists and six 3-pointers. They fell behind early and were unable to overcome a pair of 32-point efforts from Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson.
Beal has averaged 41.0 points, 5.2 assists and 3.8 made threes per game over the Wizards last six games, all losses except for one win against the floundering Phoenix Suns. He also currently leads the NBA in scoring at 35.4 points per game and usage rate at 38.3 percent.
Per @EliasSports: Bradley Beal has now lost 10 consecutive games where he's scored 40 or more points.
That's now the longest such streak in NBA history, stretching back to last season.
Beal was tied at 9 games with Walt Bellamy.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 28, 2021
Anybody who has watched the Wizards this year know that this has been a regular occurrence for Beal, who has averaged 36.8 points per game in the team’s 10 losses. When asked if the Wizards’ current situation was frustrating, Beal responded sarcastically, “Is the sky blue?”
Omg.
Reporter: “Are you frustrated?”
Bradley Beal: “Is the sky blue?"
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 28, 2021
However, it is important to note that the question may have had more overarching context, and referred to the Wizards’ current situation of having several players out due to health and safety protocols related to COVID-19. Six players were unavailable to play against the Pelicans, and many of them were key contributors such as Davis Bertans, Rui Hachimura, Deni Avidja and Troy Brown Jr.
The Athletic’s Fred Katz made sure to point out that despite admitting he was frustrated, Beal still reaffirmed his commitment to staying, and winning in Washington. This should assuage the fears of fans as trade speculation inevitably heightens, as it does after every loss in which Beal has a big game.
Here is the single most important Bradley Beal quote from his postgame session today.
Amidst all the trade talk, he said this:
"It’s tough. We wanna win. I wanna win. This is why I stayed. I wanna win (here). I figure this is the place I can get it done."
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 28, 2021
Beal signed a two-year max contract extension with the Wizards this offseason that keeps him with the team until the conclusion of the 2022-2023 season. He has repeatedly stated his commitment to making the franchise a perennial winner, despite the trade rumors that have surrounded him since John Wall’s injury.
While the result of this game is certainly disappointing, it is important to keep in mind that the Wizards are still dealing with the aftermath of their COVID-19 outbreak with several players out. Additionally, star point guard Russell Westbrook sat out the second game of the back-to-back series, as he has been doing all season, although Westbrook has been dealing with injury issues that have limited his effectiveness of late. Hopefully, the Wizards will be able to get healthy in the near future and return to full strength. If the losing persists after that however, it could be time to start giving some of the trade rumors some credence.
All stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference and ESPN
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