Bradley Beal admits he is a sore loser. The characteristic was difficult to conceal Friday night when Washington’s young guard addressed the media after the Wizards’ season-ending Game 6 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It surfaced again nearly 72 hours later.
“In my opinion, we should’ve won 4-1,” Beal said Monday in his exit interview with the media.
Beal’s assessment was the most explicit of a sentiment that permeates the Wizards after a No. 1 seed eliminated them in the second round for the second straight year.
On Friday, Coach Randy Wittman said he felt Washington should’ve won the series and a number of players emphasized Monday that Washington would still be alive in the playoffs if John Wall hadn’t sustained five fractures in his left hand and wrist in Game 1. Wall was sidelined the next three games before playing in Games 5 and 6, both of which Washington lost.
“You take away Al Horford or Jeff Teague from their team for three games, the series would be totally different,” Wall said. “I’m a big key to this team. This team can still do great things without me. Those guys competed and gave themselves a chance to win. But I feel like if I was there we would have had a better opportunity of winning the series and probably could have went up 2-0 on the road like the Toronto series and came home with some momentum, and tried to close these guys out. But everything happens for a reason.”
Ramon Sessions stepped in to replace Wall in the starting lineup and scored 21 points in Game 2’s loss. But he was held to 21 points on 7-of-24 shooting (29.2 percent) over the next two games. Center Marcin Gortat, who had partnered with Wall to create a potent pick-and-roll duo, cited a lack of chemistry with Sessions and backup Will Bynum, both of whom were acquired during the regular season, as a reason for the drop off.
“Healthy John,” Gortat said when asked what the Wizards need to take the next step. “That’s all we’re missing. I think if he played all the games, I think we’d still be in the season today. That’s my opinion.”
Despite not having Wall for three games and having him injured for two, the final four contests came down to one possession in the waning seconds, including Friday’s elimination game.
“We let a lot of games go down the stretch,” Beal said. “They made some tough plays. Horford’s game winner. Paul [Pierce’s] – they took his away. That’s the series right there. It’s sad because it’s just like a few plays here and there but it’s all a learning experience at the end of the day.”
Beal later added: “I give them credit. I always give a team credit. I give Atlanta credit. That’s a tremendous team. They’ve been playing like that all year. They’ve been playing great basketball. But whenever you’re playing against me, even if you beat me, I’m a sore loser. They didn’t really beat us.”