Guard misses practice because of foot sprain
The Wizards could be without No. 1 overall draft pick John Wall for the first time this season after the rookie point guard missed practice Monday to have his sprained left foot examined by a doctor.
Wizards coach Flip Saunders said Wall’s availability — the chief concern among multiple injured members of his team heading into Tuesday’s contest against Toronto — will be a game-time decision and that there are no contingency plans to use him on a limited basis.
“If he’s available, we’ll start him,” Saunders said.
Wizards forward Andray Blatche said, “Without him out there, it’s going to be a whole different ballgame. But we have Gilbert [Arenas] back, who just came off a great game. His confidence is still high, and he’s still being his old self, the old player he was.”
With Wall absent, Arenas moved into the first-team backcourt at practice Monday. He has not started a game since his infamous finger guns pantomime at Philadelphia on Jan. 5, the final straw that led to his suspension for the rest of the 2009-10 season.
Arenas has come off the bench in the past five Wizards games, erupting for 30 points at Chicago on Saturday, a night after he missed 12 of 14 shots at home vs. Charlotte.
“Prior to the game in Chicago, I didn’t let anybody go over early,” Saunders said. “Everyone went on the bus. More than anything, on the back to back, to have everybody keep off their legs a little bit. So he did that and seemed to have better legs.”
The prognosis appeared to improve for Yi Jianlian, who didn’t practice Monday but remains day-to-day after suffered a right knee bone bruise and hyperextension when Wall fell into him during the Bulls game.
“It was pretty painful at the time, but a few minutes away and then it feel better,” Yi said. “It won’t be long. I’ll be back soon.”
Blatche said he participated in 75 percent of practice and that he was experimenting with different tape jobs on a left knee that has become increasingly problematic over the last few games.
Saunders said Blatche would play against the Raptors, but Blatche was not so certain.
“I’m just going to take it a day at time and see how I feel tomorrow,” Blatche said. “If I feel better tomorrow and the swelling is down, I’m going to play. If not, it’s going to be a chance for the rookies to step up.”
