Losing weeks have been rare for the Washington Wizards this season, but they’re always bound to happen.

This week’s losses were a little bit tougher to swallow – Phoenix and Chicago are certainly not easy teams to beat, but it’s hard not to feel that the Wizards were only a couple plays away from stealing both of those contests. The Wizards gave us all a nice Christmas present with a comfortable win over the Knicks in the opening game of the NBA’s annual Yuletide marquee, and with the way this team’s going, we might have to get used to seeing John Wall ball on December 25.

The Wizards have to take their wins where they can. Road tilts with Houston, Dallas, OKC and San Antonio loom on the schedule, and if DC can take a couple of those games the road trip has to be considered a success.

Let’s grade.

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

John Wall: 18.7 PPG (50.0 FG%), 5.3 RPG, 9.3 APG, 2.0 SPG

Let’s all just stare at this for a while.

It might be the highest compliment of John Wall’s abilities to say that I’m really not surprised anymore when he does something like this. Thrilled? Sure, but surprised? Eh, not really.

Besides his destruction of the Knicks on Christmas, Wall nearly defeated the Bulls by himself on Tuesday with a single-handed 12-0 run late that briefly gave the Washington Wizards the lead – it wasn’t enough to get DC a victory, but that three-minute-or-so stretch was, in a word, breathtaking.

The best part about all of this, of course, is that Wall is finally starting to get the recognition he deserves. He’s right on track to start the All-Star Game, no matter all the Kyries, Wades, Lowrys and D-Roses in his path.

Wall is coming for that crown, and neither gods nor men will stand in his way.

Oh, and go away, Quincy Acy.

Grade: A

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Bradley Beal: 15.3 PPG (43.6 FG%), 5.0 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.0 SPG

I’ve seen some talk that Bradley Beal has been in a “slump,” or has been “disappointing” so far this season. But let’s just look at the facts: the Big Panda shot 50% from three-point range this week and is shooting 46% out there for the season, fifth in the league.

He’s just 21 years old, and I think our expectations are a little high after his excellent 2014 playoffs – Bradley’s doing just fine, and he’s been getting better as the season moves on. I do wish that Beal was a little bit more willing to chuck up shots from beyond the arc, however.

Beal doesn’t yet have the quick trigger that Rasual has, and he’s a bit too willing to put the ball on the floor and allow himself to get run off the line when he’s still got some space. Bradley Beal is a top-tier shooter in this league, and the more three-point attempts from him, the better.

Let ‘em fly, Panda.

Grade: B+

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Paul Pierce: 9.0 PPG (32.1 FG%), 4.0 RPG, 1.0 APG

The Truth was handled pretty well by opposing defenses this week. Pierce scored in double-figures against both Phoenix and Chicago, but he went just 9-28 from the field in this week’s three games and 4-12 from three.

He was completely invisible on Christmas against the Knicks, where an early three was his only bucket of the night – his three-point effort was his season-low in games where he didn’t get ejected.

The Washington Wizards have the luxury of using Pierce only as a tertiary scoring option, but it can only hurt when the assassin is this cold.

Grade: C-

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Kris Humphries: 8.7 PPG (59.1 FG%), 4.0 RPG, 1.3 APG

Kris Humphries’ streak of 15 straight starts was finally snapped on Christmas, but it didn’t affect his workload at all: in fact, his 29 minutes played was the most time Hump has seen since the double-overtime game against Boston on December 8.

After a few games in the doldrums, Hump finally found his midrange groove again this week. Number 43 showed signs of breaking out in the second half of the Bulls game, following that up with 14 points on 7-9 shooting against the Knicks – the first time he had reached double figures in scoring in almost two weeks.

The second unit will suffer with Humphries replacing Nene, but the switch probably had to be done. As Jorge Castillo noted this week, the Wall-Beal-Pierce-Nene-Gortat lineup has a 21.2 net rating despite only having been out on the floor for 42 minutes. That is very cool, good and awesome, and the Washington Wizards have to see whether that lineup can sustain anything close to that level of domination.

Grade: B

Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Marcin Gortat: 11.0 PPG (41.4 FG%), 9.0 RPG, 2.3 BPG

Marcin Gortat’s rebounding and interior defense are very much appreciated, but this week he was colder than the Marianas Trench.

Gortat just looks out of sorts lately offensively, and his recent bad run of form has really been hampering the Washington Wizards’ scoring efforts. We’ve all come to expect Gortat missing a bunny or two from time to time, but Gortat seems to be struggling from just about everywhere lately.

You just have to be patient – Gortat has a tendency to go through slumps like this where his touch betrays him, and he’ll undoubtedly be Hammering it up again real soon. If not, well, he’s still got some soccer skills to fall back on.

Grade: C