Nene played a major part in the Washington Wizards‘ success during last year’s NBA Playoffs. The Brazilian big man dominated his match up against former Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah in the first round. This year, however, Nene has been forced to play a smaller role.

Otto Porter, who didn’t get any significant playing time last year, has been a key part of Washington’s rotation in this year’s playoffs. Wizards fans been wanting Porter to get playing time for quite some time, and Randy Wittman finally gave him noteworthy minutes when it mattered most. (See, Randy, some people actually know what they’re talking about…)

Porter has played over 30 minutes in each of Washington’s five playoff games. In Game-1 against the Atlanta Hawks, Porter put up a double-double off the bench, scoring 10 points to go along side 11 rebounds.

He’s been often compared to Tayshaun Prince and we’re finally seeing Otto Porter bring those sort of qualities to the court. His ability to defend, use his length, move without the ball and knock down timely perimeter shots has made him a vital part of Washington’s success.

The Wizards have introduced a new style of play, allowing John Wall to share the court with players that actually take advantage of his talents.

Instead of packing the paint with Nene and Marcin Gortat, giving Wall and the rest of the guards no room to operate, Wittman has played small and the Wizards have thrived on both ends of the floor. It’s no coincidence that Washington has been playing their best basketball of the season in the playoffs.

Wall has an ice pack on his left wrist talking to Nene about "sacrifice" the reason for this win #WizardsTalk @CSNWizards #NBA #WizHawks — J. Michael (@JMichaelCSN) May 3, 2015

Washington’s win against the Hawks wasn’t perfect, especially right out of the gate.

Atlanta, similarly to how they beat Washington three times during the regular season, took advantage of their perimeter play and the Wizards’ defense failed to respond.

Nene, in particular, looked slow on the defensive end of the floor and missed all four of his shot attempts on the other end. The Washington Wizards are one of the biggest teams in the NBA, but their offense becomes stagnant when they force the ball inside and isolate their bigs.

Yesterday, we saw Nene miss a couple of easy looks inside, which seemed to hurt the flow of the offense. Here’s a look at one possession that occurred third quarter, via NBA.com:

via NBA.com

Obviously, right here, the spacing is horrid.

With just 14 seconds left on the clock, Nene is desperately looking for Paul Pierce to bail him out. John Wall, Bradley Beal and Gortat are static and Nene ends up getting the ball stripped in traffic. Luckily, Wall was able to clean it up:

via NBA.com

That play typically happens when both big men are on the court together.

Against a team like the Chicago Bulls or Memphis Grizzlies, who usually play traditional lineups, it makes sense to play Nene and Gortat together. Against a team like the Hawks, who rely on their perimeter shooting, Nene can’t play major minutes.

Here’s a look at how different the spacing and offense is when Otto Porter is on the floor, via NBA.com:

via NBA.com

Wall actually has room to drive with Drew Gooden and Porter spacing the floor, forces the defense to collapse, and kicks the ball out to the corner.

Porter then spun off DeMarre Carroll and knocked down a floater over Pero Antic.

Washington ran the same play in the final moments of the game with Gortat diving towards the basket, allowing Wall to create a wide open three point shot for Otto Porter. He knocked it down. Dagger. Game over.

via NBA.com

That’s the difference between having Nene and Otto Porter on the floor.

With all that said, it doesn’t mean Nene should be benched completely against the Atlanta Hawks.

He’s still the most skilled big man on the Wizards’ roster and his minutes should be staggered. Wittman should consider benching Nene earlier in the game, allowing him to play some backup minutes at the center position. That way, he won’t have to deal with the mismatch of having to defend Paul Millsap all game.

It took them a long time, but the Washington Wizards have finally figured it out.

We’re seeing Wall, Beal and Porter play some of their best basketball together during the most important part of the season. It’s all coming together and it’s not a coincidence that it’s happening when Washington plays small-ball.

For the Washington Wizards to have continued success, they need to continue using Paul Pierce at the four spot and Drew Gooden along side some of the starters. Washington has a legitimate chance to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals and their rotation changes have been the most important part of their success.