To be fair, the show was probably locked in on the topic after Wall's game 6 performance.
I was going to mention this yesterday, but did not want to jinx anything. Going into the game last night, I was hoping that winning game 6 on their home court would have been Washington's "victory" in this series. I had the impression that they were more concerned about not losing at home, than winning the series. It was almost as if Wall was satisfied with his game 6 winning shot. At one point in the fourth quarter, I was wondering why Wall wasn't playing, but then it occurred to me that he was on the floor the whole time. Yes, it was the Beal show in the fourth, but Wall may as well have been on the bench.
He and Beal were completely worn out at the end. I don't know the exact numbers but they logged a staggering amount of court time in the series. You're hard pressed to recall a time when they weren't out there, either separately or together. As you mention, it may have taken a greater toll on Wall. Brooks didn't have much of a choice, though. The Wiz aren't very good when they are not on the floor, either separately or together.
They were panning the Wiz bench during a timeout in the fourth last night. It was obvious how exhausted they both were, just tapped out. You could see it in their faces. I almost felt sorry for them. The outcome was still somewhat in doubt. That's when I knew the Cs were moving on.
Terrific players, both of them, obviously. They're not underpaid, but they are surely overworked.
...
I hear the "Wall was gassed" reasoning, but let's break it down. I saw a tweet saying he was 0-11 over his entire last 19 minutes on the floor.
He played a total of 44 minutes. Was he 'gassed' starting at his 25th minute in the game?
Meanwhile, Thomas, who played 39 minutes, seemed to (as is typical) just get stronger and stronger late in the game. He scored 5 points and dished out 4 assists in that final frame, keeping the Beast that is Dirty Olynyk(tm) fed.
For the series, Wall averaged 39.2 mpg while Thomas averaged 36.6.
That's not exactly a massive difference.
Ultimately, this series played out just like so many games between Thomas and Wall over their careers: Thomas' overall out-played Wall and his team won. Thomas is now 16-6 against Wall over their careers, spanning all the way back to when Thomas was with SAC.
