There were two statements made by the Wizards on Monday, each with a role in demonstrating the current state of the franchise a fifth of the way into the season.
One came from John Wall, who — with a career-high 38 points and eight assists against visiting Houston — asserted that his early-season struggles might finally be behind him.
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The second, from JaVale McGee, was markedly different, a misguided attempt at trying to jump start the NBA’s most woeful franchise that instead caused it to sink further in a 114-106 loss to the Rockets in front of 15,594 at Verizon Center.
McGee didn’t have a soul near him when he received a fast-break pass with the Wizards down 64-58 in the third quarter, so last year’s NBA slam dunk contest runner-up calmly threw the ball off the backboard to himself, catching it for an easy slam.
But the celebration was short-lived. McGee’s coaches were livid, and the Rockets (6-7) responded with a 19-4 run during which the Wizards (1-12) had as many technical fouls (two) as field goals.
“Apparently, if you get a fast break in the third quarter and you’re 1-11, you’re not supposed to do stuff like that,” McGee said.
One game after McGee had 23 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks, Wizards coach Flip Saunders left him on the bench for the game’s final nine minutes. McGee finished with eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes.
“I told him that’s unacceptable,” Saunders said. “Maybe I’m too old school, but save that for the All-Star Game, not during a game.”
Down by as many as 19 points, Wall’s 18-point fourth quarter wasn’t enough to extend Washington’s five-game winning streak on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. His revitalized jump shot cut the Rockets’ lead to 103-98 with 4:47 remaining, but he forced his next two shots, missing both. Jordan Crawford (17 points) and Jan Vesely (seven points, six rebounds) lost the ball on the possession in between, allowing Kevin Martin (25 points), Samuel Dalembert (20 points) and Kyle Lowry (16 points, six assists) to stretch Houston’s margin back to double digits.
“A dunk is a dunk,” Wall said. “I would rather seen him do a regular dunk. We’re down. We’re 1-11, 1-12 now. So there’s no point in doing any kind of excitements, but he made the basket, and that’s all that counts.”
But it stood in contrast to the 11 points and season-high 12 rebounds off the bench from Andray Blatche, who had missed the last three games with a sprained right shoulder. Blatche said he was determined to fight through the pain — Rashard Lewis missed the game with a sore right knee — but was less sure about endorsing McGee’s behavior.
“I don’t know. That’s his thing,” Blatche said. “He’s a dunker. I don’t really care for it. It’s nothing bad or good to me.”
After his second appearance of the season, Mo Evans said the last thing the Wizards needed was a target on their backs for showboating.
“We’re the most self-inflicted team in the league right now,” he said. “It’s like the team that’s the most penalized team in football, that’s what I feel like we are. Once we clean those things up, then we give ourselves chances.”
