Washington looks for third straight victory
Seven different times since April 2008 the Wizards have had a chance to win three games in a row. Seven different times they’ve failed, in fashion ranging from the spectacularly bad — matching their season low in points scored in a 92-76 drubbing at the hands of Charlotte on Nov. 28 — to the frustratingly close — such as Caron Butler going rogue and missing a potential game-winner against Dallas just two weeks ago.
“We got an easy team coming in, so it’s good,” joked Wizards head coach Flip Saunders when asked Saturday night about finally getting over the hump after his team’s 106-96 win over New York.
In fact, the Wizards beat the Celtics to complete their last trifecta, on Apr. 9, 2008. Washington also nearly took Boston to overtime in December before Gilbert Arenas missed two free throws with 26.7 seconds to play.
“For us it’s probably better that way,” said Saunders. “It’s probably better that we’re playing somebody good. I think our guys, there’s no question they’ll be juiced up to play Boston because Boston has faltered here these last couple of weeks. They haven’t played as well, they’ve have some injuries, been nicked up.”
Locked in a close battle for second place in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics (29-16) lost their third in a row and for the sixth time in eight games on Sunday to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Wizards (16-30) remain seven and a half games out of the final playoff spot.
“If we’re serious about wanting to make the playoffs and trying to catch the Chicagos and Torontos and teams like that, we’ve got to put a string together,” said Wizards guard Mike Miller. “There’s no question, we’ve dug ourselves a big hole. The only way we’re going to be able to make a push is to put a string of wins together. That’s what our job is now.”
