Just when you thought the Wizards were destined for yet another uncompetitive blowout, it turns out that they had something left in the tank – even if it wasn’t enough and they were aided by a Golden State team that all but froze up in the fourth quarter. Still, a 106-102 loss goes down as respectable, which is all the Wizards seem capable of at the moment, having lost seven games in a row and 16 of their last 18. When will they win again? Hard to say.
The second and third quarters were atrocious. The Wizards only had two assists in the second period and let a nine-point lead early in the first quarter drop to a one-point by the end of the period and turn into an nine-point deficit by halftime. Yet, stand-in coach Randy Wittman was okay with where the team was going into the break. In hindsight, it can’t help but seem like there were plenty of indications that things were pretty darn fragile going into the second half.
“I like the way we fought back,” said Trevor Booker. “But the third quarter, it killed us. We started to panic, just like every other game when a team goes on a run. We just gotta keep fighting back.”
Booker did fight back – when he was in the game. And when was he in the game? In the final three minutes of the second quarter, the only time in that quarter when the Wizards were competitive, and down the stretch, when the Wizards made their come back.
Why was Booker buried on the bench until 21 minutes of the game had already been played? Again, it’s hard to say. For one, Andray Blatche is the starting power forward, and he had a respectable 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Whether it’s him or Rashard Lewis or Yi Jianlian, Booker seems to have competition, but there’s little question he makes an impact. He could make an even greater impact if he could hit some free throws.
Nick Young went missing as the Wizards struggled, then reappeared to lead them back. In between, he picked up some sort of knee knock that got into his head and his rhythm.
“[Wizards assistant coach] Sam [Cassell] kept telling me, you can’t be hurt while you’re playing well,” said Young, who had 11 points in the first quarter, 20 points in the final 16 minutes and nothing in between. That’s how important he is to the limited Washington offense right now.
John Wall got his latest NBA lesson handling Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis.
“This young kid is getting his eyes opened,” said Wittman. “It happens to all of them. Kevin Seraphin. He’s getting his eyes opened. I don’t care if he’s the number one pick in the draft, the 17th pick in the draft or you’re a rookie free agent. This league is different than anything you can ever imagine it to be. John hasn’t really faced a situation with these two guys that can really score and shoot the ball, that you can’t make a mistake on. Some guys you play off of, force them to shoot a jump shot. Some guys you take the jump shot away, make them drivers. These guys, it’s a learning experience that John’s going through. I see progress in where he’s understanding how he’s going to have to defend and how he’s going to continue to get better at that. He’s gotten better as the year’s got one, and he’s got to continue. There’s not an easy match-up in this league. That’s one thing he’s realizing.”
