Injuries have limited Wizards’ frontcourt
Hilton Armstrong’s realization of what he’d done appeared to hit him before Joel Anthony hit the ground.
But it was already too late by the time the Wizards center reacted to try and mitigate the damage following the shove in midair that landed his Miami counterpart flat on his back on Monday.
If the NBA handles the play in the same manner as Philadelphia forward Elton Brand’s very similar-looking push on JaVale McGee last week, Armstrong may be looking at a one-game suspension that could further reduce an increasingly injury-depleted Washington roster.
“I wasn’t really trying to hurt him or anything like that, I just didn’t want him to have any easy dunk or an easy layup,” Armstrong said. “You clearly saw he lost his balance when he was in the air. I didn’t mean to hit him that hard, but he fell. I went to go try to help him out, but then [Juwan] Howard came and pushed me in the back.”
| Up next |
| Wizards at Raptors |
| Where » Air Canada Centre, Toronto |
| When » Wednesday, 7 p.m. |
| TV/Radio »Comcast SportsNet/106.7 FM |
With as many as four starters and regular rotation players on the mend, Washington’s starting five has been altered in each of the past two games. During last year’s tumultuous season, Washington coach Flip Saunders cycled through 25 different lineups, but the Wizards (5-11) aren’t quite trending in that direction just yet.
With that in mind, Armstrong knows he wasted an opportunity in his first start of the year at Miami. Back pains have pushed McGee back into a reserve role and Yi Jianlian has missed the last eight games with a hyperextended knee.
Armstrong’s flagrant foul on Anthony earned a trip to the showers before the third quarter ended. He finished with zero points and just four rebounds.
McGee, unless his status changes or worsens, likely will be back against the Raptors (6-11), a boost after he helped bottle up Andrea Bargnani defensively in their first meeting two weeks ago. With Al Thornton hampered by an ankle injury and Josh Howard’s return from knee surgery still weeks away, the door remains open at small forward for Alonzo Gee, who’s averaged 7.5 points in consecutive starts.
Most importantly, the Wizards are anxiously awaiting the return of John Wall from a bruised knee. The rookie point guard has missed Washington’s last two games and has sat out six of his first 16 games in the NBA.
