By JOHN LIKANJE
Thomas Bryant and the new-look Washington Wizards suited up, Wednesday night, for their first regular season game in 132 days. Although it wasn’t the result they sought, the former Bishop Kearney star made his presence known against his counterpart, Joel Embiid. Here is a review of how Bryant performed in the season opener:
Thomas Bryant, Washington Wizards
High School: Bishop Kearney (before one year at Huntington Prep School)
Game result: 113-107 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers
Game statistics: 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting, five rebounds, and one block in 26 minutes
The box score doesn’t reflect Thomas Bryant’s overall impact. Although Joel Embiid finished with a 29-point, 14-rebound double-double, the former Bishop Kearney star made him work for every tally.
Bryant followed the scouting report on Embiid perfectly: he played physical on post-ups and altered his catches. Then, whenever the 6-foot-10 center was the on-ball defender, he stayed solid, patient and didn’t fall for any pump fakes. The rest of the team was instrumental in guarding Embiid as well, especially Bradley Beal, who assisted Bryant in harassing him with constant double teams.
The most important part of Bryant’s defense on Embiid was forcing him to settle for jumpers. Of Embiid’s 17 field goal attempts, 12 were jump shots. Although he still converted 10 field goals, the 7-footer is much more dangerous with his back to the basket and near the rim. Therefore, Bryant did well in giving him just enough space to make him think instead of making quick, decisive movements. The former Bishop Kearney star forced three turnovers as well.
Offensively, Bryant looked comfortable with allowing Beal and Russell Westbrook to create opportunities for him. The 6-foot-10 center finished a pair of dunks in a three-possession span on a pair of Westbrook feeds: first on an alley-oop and again on a shovel pass while thundering down the lane.
HELLO TB. 💪#WizSixers | @nolimittb31 pic.twitter.com/dESTArGwkZ
— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 24, 2020
Bryant flushed another dunk on a Troy Brown, Jr. pass before not scoring again until crunch time of the fourth quarter. With two minutes remaining in the contest, Bryant made back-to-back game-tying layups: a putback off a Beal missed runner and a contact shot while being fouled thanks to Beal’s dish.
Although Bryant’s offensive statistics may not stand out with the additions of Deni Avdija and Westbrook, he’ll benefit from the plethora of good looks with the abundance of playmaking and shot creating on this new-look Wizards roster.
Bryant has another tough matchup next in Nikola Vucevic and the Orlando Magic, who defeated the Miami Heat in the season opener. Vucevic recorded 15 points and 11 boards and unlike Embiid, can be lethal with the outside touch if he’s feeling it that particular night. Game is slated for Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Capital One Arena.
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