Tag: bradley beal

Bradley Beal scores 47 points in Wizards loss to Pelicans

It’s been a rough time lately for Bradley Beal and a Wizards team that is missing a lot of key players. Yesterday’s did-not-play list included Russell Westbrook, among others. The latest struggle saw them lose 124-106 to the Pelicans last night. Via the Washington Post:

Beal more than made up for a sluggish first quarter by scoring 24 in the third quarter alone, finishing with 47 points on 17-for-37 shooting. Lopez added 14.

“We know we’re a lot better than what our record is showing, and we can’t feed into that,” Beal said. “We can’t think that’s the type of team we are — granted, reality is reality. But we also believe that we’re better than that, we’re shorthanded, we haven’t played in two weeks. We’re still getting back. It’s no excuse, 100 percent . . . but we can’t feed into being 3-11.”

Despite Beal’s effort, he couldn’t make up for a roster missing six key contributors — Deni Avdija, Davis Bertans, Troy Brown Jr., Rui Hachimura, Ish Smith and Moe Wagner. Brooks is not sure when they will get out of league protocols and rejoin the team, but all six players are now back on court and working out.

Jordan Bell, signed last week to a 10-day contract, started to give the Wizards more size against Zion Williamson and Steven Adams. But the 6-foot-8 forward could only do so much — Bell had a team-high 11 rebounds in 30 minutes.

Beal scored 47. The rest of the Wizards starting lineup yesterday scored 25.

The Pelicans continued to get monster performances from their pair of starting forwards. Brandon Ingram shot 12/19 and hit 7/12 threes for 32 points, six rebounds and eight assists, while Zion Williamson shot 12/16 for 32 points.

Bradley Beal scores 60, but Wizards lose to Sixers

Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal had himself a game on Wednesday, shooting 25 of 35 and hitting 7 of 10 three-pointers for 60 points, seven rebounds and five assists, but unfortunately it was one that ended in a loss. Via the Washington Post:

Bradley Beal’s career night was sealed at the free throw line, an anticlimactic ending that belied the thrilling performance the Washington Wizards’ star guard delivered in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Beal came achingly close to breaking Gilbert Arenas’s franchise single-game scoring record set 15 years ago, just as the Wizards nearly completed a stunning comeback against the 76ers.

Beal led his team with 60 points, tying Arenas’s tally from Dec. 17, 2006. But he could not will his team to a win.

The Wizards lost, 141-136, falling just short of a 21-point comeback mounted midway through the third quarter. Beal shot 20-for-35 from the field, 7-for-10 from three and made 13 of 15 at the free throw line, notching his fourth career 50-point game.

He had 57 points through three quarters but shot 1-for-6 in the final 12 minutes.

Examining the idea of a Bradley Beal to Nuggets trade

Here’s the Denver Post examining the idea of a Bradley Beal trade from the Wizards to the Nuggets:

The most tantalizing “win-now” move for the Nuggets would be to acquire 27-year-old Washington shooting guard Bradley Beal. The league’s No. 2 scorer behind James Harden, Beal represents arguably the juiciest trade chip across the league. But there are several obstacles to Beal landing in Denver.

The first is that he’s given no indication he wants to leave Washington, and multiple league sources believe the Wizards don’t want to move him. He has two more seasons before deciding on a 2022-’23 player option, which buys the Wizards time. Not that the Wizards have been in anything other than purgatory the last few seasons, but moving Beal means a full-scale rebuild.

From Denver’s perspective, trading for Beal means including rookie Michael Porter Jr. Remember, the Nuggets had no intention of trading Porter at the trade deadline, and that was before he showed well in the bubble. Now, after earning second-team All-Bubble during the seeding games and earning enough trust from coach Michael Malone to be on the floor during crunch time of elimination games, it’s likely his internal value has only increased. In addition, Porter should have a more consistent role next season considering the question marks around Gary Harris’ confidence and Will Barton’s health.

Considering the Nuggets’ success both in the regular season and the 2020 NBA playoffs, a guess is they will look to keep their core together and not make any dramatic trades this offseason. But of course, anything is possible, and examining possibilities is always fun.

Bradley Beal reportedly in investor group seeking to buy the New York Mets

Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal is reportedly looking to make a business move in the world of baseball. Here’s NBC Sports Washington reporting:

Nationals-Mets games could take on a different meeting someday soon, as Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal is reportedly among a group of investors trying to buy the New York Mets.

Beal, 27, was listed with a large group of athletes and celebrities headlined by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez in a report by ESPN about the investor group. Former NFL star Brian Urlacher and current Nuggets player Mason Plumlee are some of the others.

As NBA contracts continue to grow, we can only expect more players to make big moves in entertainment, sports outside of basketball, and more.

Wizards guard Bradley Beal will miss NBA restart at Disney in Orlando

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal will not participate in the NBA’s 2019-20 season restart in Orlando due to a right rotator cuff injury.

The decision was made in full consultation with Wizards Chief of Athlete Care & Performance Daniel Medina, Wizards Orthopedist Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, Beal and his representation.

“Bradley did everything possible to be ready to play, but after closely monitoring his individual workouts we came to the conclusion that it was best for him to sit out the upcoming games in Orlando and avoid the risk of further injury,” said Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “Although he was able to play through the majority of the season with the injury, the layoff from March until now did not leave any of us feeling comfortable that he would have enough time to be ready to perform at the extremely high level we are all accustomed to seeing and agreed that not participating in the games in Orlando was the right decision.”

Per the Washington Post: “General Manager Tommy Sheppard said in an online news conference Tuesday that he does not think surgery is an option for Beal. Sheppard believes the guard initially injured himself during a game in Phoenix in November but was adamant that the injury won’t be a long-term problem. Sheppard was confident that on a normal offseason timeline Beal would have been ready to play, but having to be game-ready after such a long hiatus amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and then a short period of preparation posed issues.”

Beal experienced discomfort with his shoulder early in the season and worked with the team’s medical and performance staff to manage the injury. The symptoms worsened over the course of the hiatus and he began to rehabilitate the injury with the intent of returning to play. He will not travel with the team to Orlando and will continue his rehabilitation process over the summer.

“This was a difficult decision and one that I did not take lightly as the leader of this team,” said Beal. “I wanted to help my teammates compete for a playoff spot in Orlando, but also understand that this will be best for all of us in the long term. I appreciate the support of my teammates, the fans and the entire organization and look forward to returning next season to continue the progress we have made.”

At the postponement of the season on March 12, Beal was averaging 30.5 points per game (to go along with a career-high 6.1 assists), trailing only James Harden’s 36.7 points per game. He also led the NBA in points per game since January 1 at 33.6. Beal tallied back-to-back 50-point nights on February 23 (53 at Chicago) and 24 (55 vs. Milwaukee), becoming just the sixth player in NBA history with back-to-back 50-point nights and the first since Kobe Bryant in 2007. Beal has recorded 50 20-plus-point games, 31 30-plus-point games, 10 40-plus-point games and two 50-plus-point games, placing him in the top three in the league in each category.

With his current averages of 30.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game on 45.5% shooting from the field, Beal joins Stephen Curry, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Michael Jordan as the only players to post averages of at least 30.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on 45.0% or better shooting in a single season since 1975. Beal scored 25-or-more points in 21-straight games from January 20 – March 6, the longest streak in franchise history and the second-longest NBA streak in the last 10 seasons. During the streak, Beal passed Jeff Malone for second place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list.

A reminder of big things Bradley Beal had been doing for Wizards this season

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.

Wizards guard Bradley Beal going wild lately

Time to give Wizards guard Bradley Beal some extra attention. He’s certainly earned it. Here’s the Washington Post with a look at his recent play:

The NBA hath no fury like Bradley Beal scorned. While his team remains a defensively challenged work in progress, Beal, with an assist from the All-Star Game balloting results, has succeeded in keeping the Washington Wizards relevant. That’s no small feat for the leader of a rebuilding squad that’s 16 games under .500.

In the 10 games since Beal learned he was not voted an all-star reserve by the league’s coaches, the eighth-year pro has averaged 36 points to increase his scoring average to 30.1, second only to Houston’s James Harden (35.3). Beal has posted new career highs in consecutive games, with 53 points on Sunday against the Bulls and 55 in Monday’s overtime loss to the Bucks.

“I’m a winner, so you can throw those 55 out with the last 53,” Beal said after becoming the first player in NBA history to score at least 50 points on consecutive days and have his team lose both games.

The Wizards are 20-36 this season, and despite Beal’s heroics have lost three straight games.

Still, both he and his team have been fun to watch lately.

Good year for Bradley Beal under new deal

Here’s CSN Mid Atlantic reporting on Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal, who became a very well-paid player one year ago and lived up to most expectations this past season:

Good year for Bradley Beal under new deal

Beal signed his new deal, a five-year contract worth $128 million, last July. It was a max contract for a guy who had never made an All-Star team and who had battled injuries, including last season when he only played in 55 games and only started 35. Naturally, some wondered if he was worth the money because of his problems staying healthy through four NBA seasons.

But in his first year under a new contract, Beal achieved newfound durability. He had some minor issues here and there, but managed to play 77 out of the Wizards’ 82 games and then appear in all of their 13 playoff games.

“If anything, I’m proud of that. I’m happy for myself, being able to be healthy for a full year,” Beal said. “Being able to be on the floor, man, that’s all I wanted. Just being able to be here. I knew if I was healthy that I would have a successful year. I had that opportunity this season.”

No, Bradley Beal does not enjoy getting hurt

Wizards guard Bradley Beal played 56 games as a rookie, 73 games in his second season, 63 in his third, and 55 in his fourth. Staying healthy would probably be quite enjoyable for him. Here’s the Washington Post reporting:

No, Bradley Beal does not enjoy getting hurt

During the Wednesday practice, Beal caught an inadvertent elbow from center Ian Mahinmi, who was stripped of the ball, his arms flailing, and “my head was in the way,” as Beal recalled…

“People make it seem like I’m trying to get hurt, you know what I’m saying?” Beal said. “I’m not here, like: ‘Oh, hit me in the head on this play!’ Nah, it just happens. Anybody can be in that position, so that’s not going to stop me from being aggressive and continuing to play hard.”

Bradley Beal may have an increased shot at making Team USA

The 2016 Olympics are coming this summer, and the USA squad needs to finalize their roster. Not just yet. There’s still time to sort things out. But lately, some top USA candidates have been dropping out. Here’s CSN MidAtlantic with more:

Bradley Beal may have shot at making Team USA

The field for the U.S. Olympic team for the Rio Games grew even thinner after James Harden pulled out, increasing the odds of Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal to make the cut.

Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook already have backed out of the event that begins in August. Beal’s teammate John Wall had to get surgeries on both knees after the regular season May 5 and won’t be ready for the event…

Harden didn’t mention any particular reason recently there has been a rash of high-profile NBA players pulling out.