Here’s NBC Sports Washington with a reminder of how well Wizards guard Bradley Beal was playing this season before league play was put on hold March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic:
Right after a game against the Cavs on Feb. 21 in which he went 1-for-10 from three, Beal took off to average 37.5 points and 6.1 assists in his final 10 games. He did that while shooting 48.1 percent from three on a ridiculous 10.8 attempts.
It started with two 50-point games on back-to-back nights, making him the first player since Kobe Bryant in 2007 to accomplish the feat. That included 55 points against the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks. Beal also dropped 42 in a game during that 10-game stretch, and in his last outing put 39 on the Knicks.
Beal’s scoring barrage went back to January where soon after returning from injury he caught fire, averaging 35.5 points across 23 games. He also averaged 5.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals and shot 40.4 percent from three on 9.3 attempts per game.
The surge began with seven straight games of 34-plus points. Of the 23 games, he dropped 30 or more 17 times, 40 or more six times and 50 or more twice.
Along the way in that 23-game burst, Beal raised his season scoring average from 27.2 points per game to 30.5, placing him second in the NBA and only behind James Harden. Beal is only 1.2 points away setting the franchise’s single-season record, held by Walt Bellamy who averaged 31.6 in 1961-62, the first year of the franchise’s existence.
The NBA has named 22 teams that will resume play on a modified schedule this summer in July, and the Wizards are one of those teams.
Beal’s other star backcourt mate, John Wall, has been injured and, for now, isn’t expected to make his return until 2020-21.
With Wall not having played at all this season, after Beal’s 30.5 points per game leading Wizards scorers have been forward Davis Bertans at 15.4 ppg and rookie Rui Hachimura at 13.4 ppg.
