The way the NBA schedules its games can be very tough on teams – for the second time this season, the Washington Wizards had to endure four road games in five nights.

They managed to salvage a split, and it could have all been a lot worse. They had to come back to beat the Lakers, needed an act of God to beat Denver, and couldn’t take advantage of chances to beat Portland and Phoenix.

Washington played far from their best basketball on this trip, but they still won two games and played two Western Conference playoff teams very close. Like I said, it could have all been a lot worse.

At least the schedule gets easier from here on out… the Raptors, you say? And a road game in Atlanta? Hey, at least they’re playing the Hornets twice.

Let’s grade.

Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

John Wall: 19.0 PPG (50.8 FG%), 5.8 RPG, 11.3 APG, 1.5 SPG

Johnathan Hildred Wall averaged a double-double this week while suffering from illness, nagging injuries, and MIGRAINES. Are we sure he’s even human? If I have a headache, I’m lucky if I can retain any sort of cognitive function, but John Wall can drop 21-9-13 on the Lakers with a migraine.

Wall is an undeniably wonderful basketball player, completely deserving of every ounce of praise he receives and more. But I have one qualm with Wall: he needs to get to the line more.

Wall has only shot double-digit free throws three times this year – against Denver he went to the line twice in 42 minutes, and he didn’t shoot a single foul shot in 26 minutes against Phoenix. Learning how to consistently get to the line is John Wall’s last frontier.

He’ll get it eventually, and once he does, he’ll be absolutely unstoppable.

Grade: A

Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

Bradley Beal: 15.5 PPG (45.8 FG%), 2.8 RPG, 2.0 APG

We’d all like to see Bradley Beal take more threes. We’d also all like to see Bradley Beal get to the line more. But this week, we got a nice glimpse of an expanding offensive game from the Big Panda – he looks much more confident and aggressive attacking the basket, and if he has that in his arsenal everything is going to open up for him.

The downside is that Beal continues to take a lot of midrange shots, which the stats show he’s pretty terrible at. Beal is shooting 64% at the rim and 44% from three point range, but the rest of his shot chart is gruesome: 26% from 3-10 feet, 29% from 10-16 feet, and 36% from 16 feet out to the three-point line.

Beal shot around 40% from all those spots last season, and I think he’s due to have some of those start falling – but still, maybe ease off the midrange a little bit, Brad?

Grade: B+

Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Paul Pierce: 15.7 PPG (46.7 FG%), 4.3 RPG, 2.0 APG

Trevor Ariza, 2013-14: 14.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists per 36 minutes on 46% shooting, 41% from three.

Paul Pierce, 2014-15: 17.1 points, 6 rebounds, 2.7 assists per 36 minutes on 45% shooting, 39% from three.

Trevor Ariza was 28 last year; Paul Pierce is 37 this year. That’s one of the greatest of all time right there.

Grade: A

Nene: 11.7 PPG (59.3 FG%), 5.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.3 SPG

Nene should have been an All-Star. Yeah, I said it.

While a lot of attention was spent towards the All-Star “snub” of Marcin Gortat, Nene continues to be one of the most underappreciated players in the league. There are few players who are as vital to their teams as Nene, on both ends of the court – he controls the game in myriad different ways, gives the team its physical edge, and he can dominate without putting up gaudy stats like not many players can.

And if he was in the All-Star Game, you just KNOW he would have Nene Jammed on DeMarcus Cousins, followed by the first-ever All-Star Nene Staredown. I weep for this lost future – but I guess letting the big guy get a week to rest his tender feet is fine.

Grade: B+

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Marcin Gortat: 9.0 PPG (48.5 FG%), 8.3 RPG

And while I think it’s really cool that Marcin Gortat got so many votes for the All-Star Game (more than Kevin Durant!), I don’t really understand all the talk of him being a “snub.”

Gortat is a very good player and extremely likable guy at a very thin position in the Eastern Conference, and maybe, in these days, that’s enough. At the very least, Gortat is making his homeland proud – if you haven’t yet, read Jorge Castillo’s excellent Washington Post piece about Gortat’s influence back in Poland.

Anywhere that the Polish Hammer is considered a god is cool with me, my guys.

Grade: B-