LOS ANGELES — In a nearly empty locker room at the end of the night after the Washington Wizards’ woeful 140-115 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, Jordan Poole and Deni Avdija traded barbs. Vicious, cutting insults the likes of which even the strongest of relationships don’t come back from. The type of comments that could tear a locker room apart at its seams.
Poole called Avdija’s outfit, 90s-style oversized jeans and a baggy white T-shirt under a cotton candy pink cardigan, “weak” — devastating.
In return, Avdija said he uses the “Poole party” themed beach towel that was a Wizards fan giveaway earlier this year as a mat in his bathroom — ouch.
You could cut the tension with a knife.
Not really. Poole and Avdija were, of course, jawing in jest. It’s a familiar scene after Wizards losses this season: the players sitting on the bench for the final minutes of in-game catastrophe look different variations of stunned, disbelieving and dejected. The despondency might leak into the first few moments in which reporters are allowed into the locker room, but it doesn’t last much longer than that, often melting into the type of funny conversation and good-natured jabs between teammates that keep a locker room humming.
The Wizards have been exceptionally good at coping with losses through the first year of a rebuild under a new front office, even Friday, when the team’s losing streak stretched to 14.
“Right now, we understand a lot of things we’re doing ... halfway through the year. Changing coaches, we’re also changing a lot of philosophies, we’re also changing to do a lot of things that these young guys, they haven’t necessarily been taught,” Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma said. “We have a learning curve right now. We understand that. It’s always tough to lose, especially when you’re a competitor, and everybody in this locker room is a competitor. But we understand that we’re searching and we’re fighting for growth every single day.”
There wasn’t much obvious evidence of growth against the Clippers, who barely had to try to shake the Wizards out of their defensive rotations and shot 57.4 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from the three-point line. James Harden led with 28 points, Kawhi Leonard had 27 and Paul George had 22 in a game that was essentially over before halftime thanks to a 46-point second quarter from Los Angeles.
Kuzma led Washington with 32 points and added seven rebounds.
The Wizards (9-51) will get another chance to break the losing streak against the Utah Jazz on Monday. Although they’re approaching the franchise record for consecutive losses — that would be 16, set from March 3-30 in 2010 — the players stay positive by thinking about the growth they’ve seen throughout the season.
“We used to lose [multiple games] like we lost today’s game,” Avdija said.
Just as important, the Wizards haven’t started thinking of this season as a lost cause. Players say they believe improvement is still possible with just 22 games left, especially on the defensive end, where basics such as connectivity and communication fall by the wayside far too often.
“One-on-one containment, being physical with players and coming to help,” Avdija said, when asked which areas he thought the team could feasibly improve before mid-April. “I feel like our help rotation has not been ‘it’ lately. We’ve got to work on it. It’s going to be all right.”
Here’s what else to know after Friday’s loss:
Omoruyi earns contract
The Wizards announced Friday they have converted forward Eugene Omoruyi to a standard NBA contract that will keep him with the team through the 2024-25 season. The 27-year-old brings Washington’s roster back up to 14 players.
Omoruyi signed a two-way contract in July that had him splitting time between the Wizards and the G League’s Capital City Go-Go. He is averaging 4.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 7.6 minutes with the Wizards while shooting 49 percent from the field.
“This is someone who has worked his tail off behind the scenes, and then you guys get to see it occasionally when he plays,” interim coach Brian Keefe said. “Every time we put him out there we’ve done well. I think it’s also a credit to our development program and the use of the Go-Go in the G League and their staff. But mostly, Gene deserves it. He’s a guy that represents stuff that we’re about as a culture and want to build. Thrilled for him.”
Coulibaly sits again
Keefe offered no timeline for Bilal Coulibaly’s return as the rookie missed his third straight game Friday with a pelvis contusion. Coulibaly took a hard fall in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against Cleveland after colliding with his defender on a dunk attempt.
Keefe said the rookie is “definitely progressing,” and he later acknowledged how important it is to get him back on the court.
Coulibaly isn’t the only one on the Wizards’ injury report — the team announced Monday that Isaiah Livers, who arrived in the January trade from Detroit that also brought Marvin Bagley III to Washington, will miss the remainder of the season with joint capsule inflammation in his right hip. Livers has not appeared in a game for the Wizards since joining the team.
Westbrook fractures hand
Clippers guard Russell Westbrook fractured his left hand while facing his former team Friday. He left early in the second quarter after playing just six minutes and never returned. Coach Tyronn Lue told reporters afterward that he was unsure of Westbrook’s timetable to return or whether the 35-year-old veteran would need surgery.
