Bradley Beal and hapless Washington Wizards finally win to snap 0-12 start

It was an ugly game—their opponents shot .349 from the field—and he didn't have much to do with it, but St. Louis native Bradley Beal's Washington Wizards are finally off their season-opening 0-12 losing streak; they beat the Portland Trailblazers by a telling score of 84-82 Wednesday. Beal was 2-6 from the field for five points in 16 minutes on the floor as the nominal starting shooting guard.

It's been a rough start for Beal, the Chaminade standout taken with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft after a season at Florida. He's averaging 11 points per game on 11 field goal attempts, shooting .326, and generally not looking comfortable. Of course, he's also 19, and playing for a team that's won one game in 13 tries.

SB Nation's Bullets Forever wrote a great article detailing his start, and his problems maintaining his starting job in the wake of a slow start. Wizards fans have worried about his apparent lack of aggressiveness, but his near-term problem seems tied more directly to making the shots he does end up taking. Once a few three-pointers start falling—nobody expects him to continue putting up Antoine Walker numbers from back there—things could get better fast, for team and rookie alike.