The Oklahoma City Thunder dismantled the Washington Wizards 134-111 on Friday night. The game was decided in the second quarter, which the Thunder won 44-20, but one moment about halfway into the third encapsulated the entire 48-minute trampling.

Russell Westbrook dribbled into a post-up against Bradley Beal, sank an innocuous shoulder into Beal’s chest, and drained a 15-footer while the Wizards star clutched his face in search of a foul. Westbrook saw Beal’s reaction and motioned like he was rocking a baby to sleep.

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Disrespectful, sure. But it’s not like the 1-7 Wizards deserve anyone’s respect right now.

The second quarter started 35-30 OKC. The Thunder’s reserves made a mini-run against Washington’s shaky bench, but the wheels truly came off when it was starters vs. starters again.

From the eight-minute mark to about the two-minute mark, every single made field goal from OKC – eight in total – came within the paint. The run started with some regular, old porous defense, but it quickly devolved into a total lack of effort.

Anyone who tells you Dwight Howard’s 20-point debut was a silver lining is either lying or worryingly optimistic. Howard’s defense was abysmal. He failed to slide over and protect the rim against Westbrook two plays in a row, gifting the former MVP a pair of lightly contested layups:

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And on plays when he did offer timely help, his 265-pound frame disintegrated into tissue paper underneath the hoop:

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That’s Hamidou Diallo – a wiry 20-year-old rookie who was bad in college – overpowering a three-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Howard contested ten shots in the restricted area against OKC, and eight of them went in. He was a bottom-ranked defense unto himself. Oh, by the way, that’s exactly where Washington ranks defensively over the last six games.

The nail in the coffin on Friday was a Westbrook pick-six that stretched Oklahoma City’s lead to 18. Two possessions later, John Wall threw a nonchalant lob – predictably resulting in a turnover – then did a jumping jack instead of getting back on defense:

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He pulled the same trick, minus the jumping jack, about three minutes later:

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Baby-like, indeed.

The Wizards started the year with two close losses to the Heat and Raptors, but four of their last five defeats have had point differentials of 12-plus. They just got shellacked at home, on national TV, to a team on the second night of a back-to-back.

Just like all the other big losses, they hung in the game until the opponent made a run, and then they proved incapable of stemming the tide or making any kind of run themselves. Aside from perhaps Kelly Oubre, no Wizard plays with the extra oomph required of a team on the ropes.

This roster is talented. It has two top-30-ish players in Wall and Beal. Otto Porter might crack the top 50. Howard and Markieff Morris aren’t scrubs. Oubre could start for a dozen teams around the league.

And aside from refusing to stagger his two stars, head coach Scott Brooks isn’t doing anything bizarre from a tactical standpoint. The on-court execution has been putrid, but he’s not in over his head.

It seems overly simplistic to call effort, leadership, and other abstractions the reasons for a team’s success or lack thereof. But this is a decent-enough roster with a decent-enough coach. Effort, chemistry, mental toughness, leadership – they’re the best explanations we have.

The Wizards don’t play transition defense. They don’t rebound. They don’t contest shots. They don’t communicate (Seriously, listen to the crickets in all the video clips above.) They don’t try.

And why would they? For several years now, this iteration of the Wizards has coasted to a playoff spot off of talent alone. They’re a dysfunctional franchise, and they’ve grown confident in their ability to play through regular season drama without much urgency.

After the game on Friday, Beal told reporters, “I’m not hitting the panic button. I’m not hitting it, and I don’t think we are either as a team.”

Maybe that’s the problem.

Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images