Danny Avdia maintained a positive attitude despite another Washington loss tonight (between Friday and Saturday), its seventh in the last nine games, 110:102 to Miami at home.
The Israeli had a good performance that included 15 points and 8 rebounds, including 6/8 from the field, but like his entire team - struggled in the third quarter which is emerging as a weak point for the Wizards recently.
On Thursday morning, Washington lost 40:19 to the Clippers in the third quarter, and saw a closeable difference of only 6 points become 27.
Tonight, Avdia and his friends went into the break with a lead of 3, but the visitor from Florida outscored them 16:31 in the first 12 minutes of the second half.
During that third quarter, the Israeli committed three fouls out of five he had in the game - one offensively and one more technically, after the referees turned a whistle into a Terry Rozier foul against him.
Abadiah was also entrusted with the complicated defensive task of guarding that Rozier, who finished the evening with 15, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for the team he joined last week.
Struggled in the third quarter, like everyone else.
Avdia Zorek/Reuters
In the press conference after the game, Avdia referred to that third quarter in which the Wizards scored only five shots out of 18 and entered the area of the five team fouls in less than five minutes: "We came out a little slow and rusty, we have to tighten up. I feel like this is the stage where a lot of games get away from us, and if We will manage to fix it - we will win a lot more," admitted the forward.
The Israeli, who equaled his second-highest amount of minutes this season, when he spent 35 of them on the floor, was asked about the fouls from comfortable looks and answered: "Sometimes you have to go through it. We have excellent scorers, if you have a free shot everyone wants you to take it. I feel that we did the It's tonight, some of the balls didn't go in, but we'll keep throwing. I believe in us."
Focus on the positive despite the loss.
Avdia/GettyImages, Patrick Smith
Regarding the defense, as mentioned, Avdia expressed optimism and said: "We rely more on our players in one-on-one defense. We bring less help and build more on the cover of the last player in the defense, and continue the rotation from there. I feel that it worked well for us, we raised the level of physicality , we close better for the rebound. Honestly? I'm very proud of the team, we played a very good defense today. We didn't get the shots, it was a close game against a good and physical team. I take a lot of positive things in terms of our physicality and defense."
More on the same topic:
Washington Wizards
Danny Avdia