Young, Blatche are part of what Wittman calls ‘inexcusable’ effort
Andray Blatche recently returned healthy from a month-long injury layoff but has been forever changed by home fans who have turned on him for good. Nick Young missed one game last weekend and hasn’t changed a bit.
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Either way, both apparently have become a toxic presence for the Wizards, who were not helped by the troubles of their two longest-tenured players Monday night at Verizon Center. The 120-100 blowout loss to Golden State left coach Randy Wittman as exasperated and angry as he has been since replacing Flip Saunders in January.
“It’s inexcusable, and that’s on me,” said Wittman, whose team looked fragile and overwhelmed. “I’ll take responsibility for that because I’m going to clean that up. That is unprofessional, and I apologize to everybody that had to watch it and come here tonight.”
Two nights after the Wizards put up an all-around effort in a 101-98 win over Cleveland, the 17,843 on hand watched the Warriors (15-20) — playing for the second time in two nights and in the final contest of a six-game road trip — score 41 points in the first quarter. Golden State led by 25 points in the first half and shot better from 3-point range (15-for-23, 65 percent) than the Wizards (8-29) shot at the line (20-for-36, 56 percent). Led by four 3-pointers from Klay Thompson (18 points), six Golden State players hit at least twice from beyond the arc.
It didn’t stop Young, coming off a twisted knee, from matching Golden State’s Monta Ellis with 25 points. Every shot he could make was needed with Jordan Crawford going 2-for-13 from the field. But 15 of Young’s points came in a meaningless fourth quarter, which started with Washington already down 89-71. All but three of his points came in the second half, which began with the Wizards down 65-51.
“You never want to see that, obviously,” Wizards guard Roger Mason Jr. said. “Yeah, it’s difficult.”
On one possession in the first half, Young gobbled up 19 seconds dribbling before a desperate pass to Mason for an airball as the shot clock expired.
“We wasn’t making shots, and we kind of never really got it going,” Young said. “But just for myself, I’m trying to get things. I’m trying to shake these demons off, these devils off me, just keep playing.”
Young’s play was complemented by Blatche’s inability to establish any rhythm in the face of more relentless boos. The jeering began as soon as he entered for JaVale McGee (10 points, 10 rebounds), who at one point tried to sub himself out of the game after an offensive foul.
“At the long run, it’s not only hurting me, it’s hurting my teammates,” said Blatche, who is 2-for-9 with five points in two games since missing all of February with a left calf strain. “Every time I touch the ball, I’m second-guessing. I’m trying to avoid the boos.”
Only John Wall (20 points, 14 assists, six rebounds) could hold his head high afterward. But while Wittman was ready to accept responsibility, he isn’t going to give up — in particular on Blatche.
“I think he’s better than that,” Wittman said. “I think he can fight through that. And that’s what we have to do. I don’t know. That’s all you can do.”
