The Washington Wizards brought a two game win streak back to Verizon Center on Tuesday night and were attempting to win 3 games in a row for the first time in 3 years. Taking on the Pistons at home was just the recipe to get that third win, as the Wizards played inspired ball in the 4th quarter to seal the win and continue gaining confidence in their new young nucleus. Here are the sights from the game courtesy of yours truly...
Photo Courtesy ~ Joe Glorioso / Twitter - JoeGlo1
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Three straight wins for the first time this season? Check.
Three straight for the first time since...2008? Check.At least the Wizards reached one positive mark this season when it comes to streaks. All fans had heard about was the dismal road record for much of the season.
John Wall showed the ability to overcome a miserable shooting night and still be a contributor down the stretch, scoring 16 of his 26 in the final quarter of play. It might not mean much to the common viewer, but there is something to be said for a rookie who remains focused despite a poor start to the game. Throw in his 12 assists and six boards and it was another well-rounded night.Jordan Crawford might be taking Nick Young's spot. Not only has he shown that he can score, but his ability to rebound and also dish out assists counts for a lot.
Young has been known to have three modes: Shoot, shoot, and shoot some more. While he has made strides this season, it isn't clear as of yet whether he can become the all around two guard that would compliment Wall.Nice effort from Blatche. If he gave 75% of the effort he gave tonight on a game to game basis, he'd be an All-Star. Wizards' fans know this all too well.
Playing with a depleted roster, it was a nice performance by the Wizards. One thing is clear; the youngest guys on the court (Wall, Crawford, etc) want to compete hard no matter what the record says. It's a shame that the veterans on the team don't bring the same level of intensity on a nightly basis.After keeping the game close deep into the fourth quarter, the Washington Wizards pull away and defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115 to 107. Washington dominated Cleveland in the paint, outscoring them 62 to 46 and out-rebounding them 56 to 38.
Andray Blatche set a franchise record for offensive rebounds with 16 and also matched his career high in points with 36. Blatche was not the only one to step up big for the short-handed Wizards, Jordan Crawford registered his first career triple double playing almost exclusively at point guard with fellow rookie John Wall serving his one-game suspension.
“I just want to take my hat off to Crawford. He once again stepped up for us and led us to a win.” Said Blatche. “ I feel like we have a great group of young guys, we all have a certain role we need to pitch in and play. The guys are doing a great job at what they’re supposed to do.”
no commentsWizards defeat the Utah Jazz 100-95
Game notes:
* John Wall has been doing really well as of late and is playing much better than he has all year. He finished with a game high 28 points along with 7 assist, and 6 rebounds. The key stat of the night actually was the fact that he had 2 turnovers only. Great sign for the future.
* One pleasant surprise, and I mean surprise because I would have never predicted on the progress of JaVale to happen this season but the man is playing inspired ball. He finished with his 4th straight double double. He's rebounding and scoring. One move that made my night and made me smile in the morning just thinking about it, was one move where he backed down his opponent and did a pretty spin move towards the basket and dunked it but it wasn't one of those dunks where he takes off from the free throw line. It was an actual BIG MAN move that was beautiful. (Check out the ComcastSportsNet video on the bottom to see the beautiful move by McGee)
It looks like Coach Flip Saunders will be back and retained by the Wizards front office for the 2011-2012 barring any lock out. I was told by a source that Flip Saunders has informed the coaching staff that they are indeed coming back next year.
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Lets be honest, entering this season not many people believed that the Washington Wizards would be a winning basketball team. Fans were excited though to watch John Wall brings his talents to Washington, D.C. and play against the leagues best point guards, believing that he too will reach their elite status.
Against the Oklahoma City Thunder Wall faced Russell Westbrook (18 pts, 12 ast), a dynamic point guard who before the game Wizards Head Coach Flip Saunders called the “best all around point-guard in the NBA.” In a double-overtime thriller on January 28, Westbrook contained Wall to a pedestrian 13 points and 10 assists.
Although the Wizards have fared better at home this season, there most recent matchup was far less dramatic. Westbrook and the NBA's leading scorer Kevin Durant (28.1 PPG) applied pressure early on to gain a 23-point lead and put the game away by the end of the first-half. The Thunder held Washington to a lowly 37.8 percent from the field, including 0 of 9 from beyond the three-point line.
no commentsWizards lose another one at home dropping home record to 15-20 and moving to 16-49 on the season. Don't worry folks, the end is near, March Madness begins this week and we can then start dreaming about what 2 - 1st Round picks might be looking good in the Blue, Gold, Black - Red, White and Blue this summer and next year.
In the meantime here are the sights from tonight's disaster:
Photo Courtesy ~ Joe Glorioso / http://www.twitter.com/JoeGlo1
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Brandon Jennings and the Milwaukee Bucks never broke stride as they had their way with the Washington Wizards, handing them their third straight defeat while claiming the season series 2 to 1.
Jennings (23 pts) and John Salmons (22 pts) lead the Bucks in scoring despite not logging a single minute between the two during the fourth quarter. The Bucks used the second and third quarters to build a 25-point lead, outscoring the Wizards 53 to 31 during that time.
Wizards Head Coach Flip Saunders attributed late quarter collapses to why the game got so out of hand.
“We have some guys when they get tired, they have a tendency to brain-lock when they get a little bit fatigued,” said Saunders. “That happens a lot at the end of quarters. Sometimes you try to buy a couple minutes and we’ve got guys in foul trouble.”
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In a match-up of two teams who’ve had there share of turmoil over the last few weeks, the Detroit Pistons held off the Washington Wizards late comeback attempt beating them 113 to 102.
Wizards Head Coach Flip Saunders missed the game against his former team in order to attend a wake for his mother who passed away this past Friday. For the second time in the last three games, Assistant Coach Randy Wittman filled in during Saunders’ absence.
In recent weeks reports have surfaced over Pistons’ players boycotting the teams Head Coach John Kuester by walking out on meetings and refusing to practice. Rip Hamilton (10 pts) who was at the center of the alleged walk-out, stated last week that he had spoken to his coach and that their issues were resolved. For at least one night Detroit stood united.
no commentsWizards Win 103 - 96 against the Minnesota Timberwolves
If you expected Cartier Martin, Maurice Evans and a sick Trevor Booker (who had flu like symptoms) would be one of the reasons why the Wizards would win, then you are a freaking genius. Cartier was hustling and was giving the Wiz Kids plenty of his energy. Maurice Evans hit some key three pointers from the corner. Flip Saunders even said that he shoots the corner 3's really well. Booker did not feel well as he had flu like symptoms but the Wizards asked him to play sparingly and he agreed to do so. Nick Young actually did not play this game because he had flu like symptoms.
Booker had two back to back dunks that got the crowd on their feet. "The 2 dunks were crazy, don't know which one was crazier, the 1st or the 2nd one," said Blatche about Bookers dunks. Despite being sick, Booker had the adrenaline rush hit him after the dunks as he described it after the game. By the way, Booker thought the 2nd one was better.
Andray Blatche, for someone who gets alot of grief because of the way he plays, had a really good game. I guess he was motivated playing against Kevin Love (he finished with 20 points 21 rebounds). Blatche ended up with 20 points 7 rebounds, and 4 assist. If only Blatche could be this motivated and emotional during a game.
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