Detroit’s loss to the Lakers was a strange way to arrive at the Washington game: they fell 24 points behind in the first quarter, then outscored LA the rest of the way. Washington’s last recorded game was almost the opposite kind of frustration—plenty of shots, hardly any points. I’m curious which problem shows up first in this matchup: Detroit’s opening defense, or Washington’s ability to make its possessions count.
Detroit made 19 threes against the Lakers but went 13-for-20 at the line while LA went 26-for-33; the provisional final was 121–116. Washington took 98 field-goal attempts against Oklahoma City and scored 75, with 11 turnovers. Those numbers tell us where the trouble surfaced, not whether it repeats against a different opponent. If you watched either game, what did the box score miss?
