Wizards Miss Jordan Poole in Loss

Jordan Poole was sidelined as the Washington Wizards lost to the Indiana Pacers.

Nov 22, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole (13) drives to the basket as Boston Celtics forward Sam Hauser (30) and Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) defend in the second half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The shorthanded Washington Wizards couldn't get out of their rut as they lost 115-103 to the Indiana Pacers to extend their losing streak to 11 games.

The Wizards were already the underdog going into the game, but matters were made worse when point guard and leading scorer Jordan Poole was ruled out with a hip flexor prior to the start of the contest.

With Poole out, the Wizards had to adjust, putting rookie Kyshawn George into the starting lineup and giving Malcolm Brogdon more of a creation role. Wizards coach Brian Keefe explained how the team was forced to adjust with Poole out.

“Our team's growing in terms of that type of stuff,” Keefe said postgame. “We’re still learning and growing. We have multiple guys who can make plays and multiple guys who are ball handlers so we want to play a system that allows guys to make decisions, make reads. I thought for the most part we did that. We just had that little bit of a stretch there in the third with the turnovers.”

Injuries are part of the game in the NBA and people will be shuttling in and out of the lineup each and every night. This means that the Wizards have to play the same game as the other 29 teams and figure out how to adjust on the fly.

This is something that younger teams usually struggle with a little more than experienced teams, especially the Wizards, who have been working on incorporating veteran point guard Malcolm Brogdon into the mix.

The Wizards hope Poole can recover quickly as the team faces another opportunity to break their losing streak tomorrow against the Chicago Bulls at home in the latest Emirates NBA Cup game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

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