Balanced offense is key in victory over Raptors As both JaVale McGee and John Wall were soaring toward the basket for an alley-oop, the 7-footer used his long arms to grab the ball for the slam instead of Wall for the Wizards’ final points of the first half. The point guard couldn’t match his teammate’s long arms and also couldn’t hide his smile as he backpedaled down the court.
“I thought it was for me, but you know I ain’t never get one of those,” Wall said. “We basically all having fun, trusting each other, not caring who had the ball, not caring who scored.”
The Wizards were full of grins and relief as coach Flip Saunders finally unlocked the lineup combinations that had flustered him throughout a franchise-worst 0-8 start and produced a dominant 93-78 victory over Toronto (4-6), the franchise’s first victory since April 11, 2011.
“Like Ted even said before the game, ‘Don’t listen to anything you hear,'” Saunders said. “‘Don’t lose sight of where we’re trying to get, the process that we’re going through.'”
The Wizards (1-8) set the tone with defense, played smart (season-high 48.8 percent shooting), shared the ball in the halfcourt (season-high 20 assists) and gave a half-full crowd at Verizon Center a team worth rooting for.
Nick Young had 15 points, but eight different Wizards scored at least eight points. Trevor Booker (eight points, seven rebounds, three steals), making his first start of the season over Andray Blatche, provided energy and toughness on defense with Chris Singleton (nine points, nine rebounds) in the rookie’s second straight start, and Blatche (nine points, eight rebounds) and Rashard Lewis (15 points) both provided crucial offense off the bench.
“When we playing like that, I don’t have no problem doing that role,” Blatche said. “It’s all about winning and making steps. And tonight we made some steps.”
Wall (eight points, nine assists, three blocks) was backed up for the first time by rookie Shelvin Mack, freeing Jordan Crawford (11 points) to score instead of worrying about running the show.
With Young as the only primary scorer among the starting five, the Wizards did struggle early to find an offensive rhythm even as five different players scored the team’s first five baskets.
After Wall airballed his second jump shot and hit the top of the backboard with a desperation 3-pointer on his third, Saunders swapped Singleton and Booker for Lewis and Blatche. He also replaced Wall with Mack, finally taking Crawford’s struggles running the point into account. Mack responded by getting his first assist before Wall, rifling a pinpoint bounce pass through the lane to a cutting Lewis for a layup and a foul to cut the lead to 20-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Blatche showed no signs of the sore right shoulder that made him a game-time decision and kept him out of the starting lineup for the first time. He took seven shots in the first half but was even more active defensively with five rebounds and a block.
Blatche used one arm to pull down a defensive board as the Wizards closed the half with an electric 18-8 run. Top pick Jan Vesely (four points, five steals) made a pair of deflections to open up the transition game, picking up the second one himself, cocking back a two-handed slam and hanging on the rim. Wall then hit McGee (10 points, six rebounds, three blocks) for his first alley-oop and the crowd came to its feet after Crawford darted through the lane for his team-high ninth point of the half.
When Vesely soared for an alley-oop of his own from Mack early in the fourth quarter, the Wizards had their biggest lead, 79-52, and it was the Czech rookie who thanked the crowd for their support when the final whistle blew.
“I’m happy that I get a chance to show what I can do and how I like play,” Vesely said. “I’m happy that we won, and I hope we will continue this kind of game.”
