Jeremy Lin is darn good, darn popular and was darn near perfect for the final three quarters against the Wizards in last night’s 107-93 victory over the Wizards.
But the Wizards were darn near uncompetitive. Is it any surprise, then, that there were only three players left in the locker room after the coach Randy Wittman had finished speaking to the press?
What plagued the Wizards after the game – a severe case of backing down – is what plagued them during the game, as they responded to an inability to handle pick and roll defense by wilting and ceding the contest to the Knicks before the second quarter was complete – exactly like they did the last time New York came to town. Only this time it was Lin and Tyson Chandler who were calling the shots, not Amar’e Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony.
Before Lin’s uncontested dunk and before the Knicks were allowed to take 17 free throw attempts in the third quarter, before Steve Novak dropped four 3-pointers on Washington in the second quarter, the Wizards had played hard, showed signs and lived up to the rare occasion in which they’d come into the night as favorites.
But that was only the first quarter, and by halftime the doom was already setting in.
“Yeah, I think we hung our heads a little,” Wizards forward Trevor Booker said. “That’s something that we got to get over. We got to realize that teams are going to make runs. We’re going to make runs. But when other teams make runs we just got to hold our heads high and just keep fighting back.”
“We got a young team, and I guess that’s something that we gotta work on, is growing past that, keeping our composure and not showing teams, I guess, when they see blood in the water like sharks,” forward Mo Evans said. “They got momentum, they’re jumping up and down, and we realize when they went up eight they were jumping up and down. It was a whole other half to play, and we still had four or five minutes to play in the half, and we cut it to six.”
Thanks almost solely to John Wall, the Wizards actually took the lead again in the third quarter. Nick Young contributed three points to the 10-0 Washington run with a free throw – and a jump shot taken six seconds after he’d grabbed a defensive rebound. That’s how in rhythm Young was with the offense most of the night. His next two shots were desperate 3-point heaves, and he finished 3 for 11 with five fouls – probably not a resume booster for his misguided campaign to get into the 3-point shooting contest during All-Star weekend. Young’s replacement, Jordan Crawford, was just as bad, going 2 for 10, numbers that fit right alongside a minus-20. Neither were around after game.
Still, when Wall split Lin and Iman Shumpert, who both took a swipe at the ball and probably got him on the arm, and made a pretty vicious dunk, the Wizards were ahead, 60-58. But from there, they were outscored 19-8 to end the quarter, with Lin returning the favor with a dunk to make the building his own.
“We played that third quarter, once they got into the bonus, like we had no clue we were in the bonus,” Wittman said.
No clue they were in the bonus, or no clue?
“I guess the biggest letdown was our failure to adjust to what they were doing,” said Evans, who was as guilty as anyone for allowing Lin’s throwdown. “They executed extremely well. You have to give them credit for that. Jeremy Lin made all the right plays all night long, played very unselfish, and as a result, he ends up with [23 points, 10 assists]. He got all those guys going, and frankly, they ran the same play literally every time. They put us at a decision, and that’s what you have to do in this league.”
Decisions that also need to be made with the Wizards going forward should involve grading guys on nights like these, when the opportunities are there and wasted. That’s a failure of preparation and mentality. What Lin did, as much as anything, was to expose just how fragile the Wizards are.
“When you play against certain times, you know the crowd is against you sometimes,” Wall said. “We just go out there and play. You make it a game, and the crowd gets on your side. You’ve got to play basketball. We’re a family here, you get your jerseys on and go out and play. We knew who they had and who they didn’t have. They took advantage of us in the third quarter and got a big lead.”
“It’s just Wizards basketball right now,” Evans said. “I guess we gotta earn everything.”
As if it is so much to ask.
