Alex Sarr sizes up Egor Demin as the Nets rookie drives to the basket Sunday in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS — As rookie guard Tre Johnson put it, the Washington Wizards felt like they got “punked” in their NBA Summer League opener, a disappointing blowout loss in which their coach said they lacked the required physicality.
Sunday night’s matchup with the Brooklyn Nets offered a chance to respond, a point second-year wing Kyshawn George emphasized ahead of time. The Wizards set the tone in a morning shootaround, Johnson said, and maintained it in a 102-96 win at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.
“I thought the guys did a really, really good job of responding and not just talking about it, but actually going out there on the floor and doing it,” Coach J.J. Outlaw said.
“We didn’t want to have to come into halftime talking about the physicality and [us] still not being a more physical team,” said Johnson, who scored a team-high 21 points and knocked down two free throws with 20 seconds left to put Washington (1-1) up four. Five Wizards — the team’s starting lineup — scored in double figures. Drew Timme led Brooklyn (0-2) with 30 points.
No player symbolized Washington’s improved force more than second-year center Alex Sarr. After a sleepy showing in the opener, Sarr played with vigor en route to 16 points, 12 rebounds and a summer league record eight blocks — perhaps a strong enough showing to close out his Vegas tenure.
“We wanted to see him be aggressive. We wanted to see him engaged,” Outlaw said. “ … Our guys really, really fed off that.”
As a rookie, Sarr struggled to finish around the rim (63 percent, 23rd percentile among big men, per Cleaning the Glass). He often seemed too comfortable floating around the perimeter.
But against Brooklyn, 13 of his 15 shot attempts came inside the paint. Outlaw said he was proud of how Sarr continued attacking despite missing his first three shots inside.
Sarr was a below-average rebounder as a rookie but started his scoring Sunday with a pair of putback dunks, drawing a foul on the second make. He also finished off a lob from rookie forward Will Riley. That makes three converted alley-oops through two summer league games for Sarr, who finished with just 11 in 67 games last season, per NBA.com
Sarr controlled the interior on defense as well, repeatedly coming off the weak side — the half of the court away from the ball — to swat away shots. Late in the first half, Brooklyn guard TJ Bamba dribbled all the way into the paint, where Sarr waited.
Unwilling to test the big man, Bamba stopped, balancing on his right foot for a beat before passing back to the perimeter. The possession ended with him taking a three-pointer — one Sarr blocked anyway.
Scoring comes easy for Johnson
According to Johnson, the Wizards front office and coaching staff don’t care if he scores; all they talk to him about is his defense.
Johnson has the tools to be an effective defender, measuring in at just under 6-foot-5 without shoes with a 6-10¼ wingspan. But he struggled in college, with General Manager Will Dawkins showing Johnson plays of him “taking plays off” during his predraft meetings.
While Johnson said his defense has yet to impress, he did acknowledge that his activity and awareness had improved.
“He gives maximum effort all the time,” Outlaw said.
Of course the Wizards do care about his scoring, having drafting him at No. 6 primarily because of his lethal jump shot.
“Scoring really comes easy to me,” he said. “I just got to be in the right spots and make the shots.”
He has done just that through two games. After shooting 7 for 11 from the field and 2 for 6 from three Sunday, Johnson is averaging 19.5 points per game on 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) shooting through his first two games.
Riley is more aggressive
Whenever Outlaw speaks about Riley, the No. 21 pick, he expresses his desire for the young wing to be more aggressive.
The 19-year-old listened against Brooklyn. He had 16 points and three assists, shooting 5 for 6 from the field and 3 for 4 from three. It was a marked improvement from the opener, when he scored just five points.
In the fourth quarter, Riley got the ball in transition and attacked Nets big man and fellow first-round pick Danny Wolf. Riley crossed from right to left, absorbed the bump from Wolf and kissed his shot off the backboard for an and-one.
Outlaw also highlighted the rookie’s tenacity on the offensive glass. While Riley didn’t notch an offensive rebound, he tipped multiple balls that extended Wizards possessions.
“He’s stuck to it every game and in practice. So to see him go in there, get in the fight, get in the scrum, tap balls out, give us second chance opportunities, I thought that was really good,” Outlaw said. “And I’ve just been talking to him about staying aggressive offensively. He’s a really good basketball player with a high basketball IQ. So just stay aggressive, keep attacking when he finds his spots.”