Detroit snaps 13-game losing streak, 99-90
It should come as no surprise that the Wizards just can’t seem to manage total concentration, considering they haven’t been able to have a full team at practice this week thanks to the ongoing investigation of the Dec. 21 locker room gun incident involving Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton.
For the second straight day, multiple Wizards players went to speak with the grand jury looking into the episode, and the lack of focus and sharpness were evident against the equally hapless Detroit Pistons, who snapped their own 13-game losing skid with a 99-90 victory in front of a half-full Verizon Center.
Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, who was denied his 600th career victory for the second time, said earlier in the day that Mike Miller and JaVale McGee had missed the team’s morning shootaround in order to speak with law enforcement authorities. The Washington Post also reported that Andray Blatche also met with investigators.
McGee was the only player who saw any playing time in the game itself, however, as Miller again was scratched due to a sore right calf and Blatche missed the game after being suspended for conduct during and after Washington’s 115-100 loss to New Orleans on Sunday.
Antawn Jamison led all scorers with 31 points and 10 rebounds. But it was no match for Charlie Villanueva, who came off the bench to hit five 3-pointers en route to a team-high 23 points for Detroit.
Making his third start at point guard in the absence of Arenas, Randy Foye (20 points, 10 assists) scored nine straight points to erase an early first-quarter deficit, giving the Wizards their first lead of the night, 16-15, with a 19-foot jumper. Foye became the first Washington guard aside from Arenas to have at least 20 points and 10 assists in a game since Larry Hughes in 2004.
The Wizards (12-24) closed the quarter with a 27-21 lead but then missed their first six shots of the second quarter, allowing the Pistons (12-25) to reclaim the lead with a 9-0 run for a 28-27 advantage. An Earl Boykins three-pointer briefly put the home team back in front, but it was one of just four Wizards field goals in the period, as they were outscored, 27-11. It was their lowest single quarter output of the season, two fewer points than they had in the second quarter of a 92-76 loss to Charlotte on Nov. 28.
Foye tied the score at 61 with a two-handed dunk off a Detroit turnover, but Richard Hamilton (19 points) responded immediately with a jump shot at the other end and the Pistons never trailed again.
