In the Wizards’ first contest of a five-game homestand that will match their longest stretch at Verizon Center all year, coach Randy Wittman is sticking with the same tactic he used to nearly get a victory in Washington’s first game after the All-Star break last night: benching Nick Young and JaVale McGee.
Jordan Crawford, making his third start of the season, and Kevin Seraphin, making the second start of his career, are Young and McGee’s replacements, having helped the Wizards fight back from a 22-point first half deficit before losing at Milwaukee last night, 119-118.
“Every game is a learning experience, and that’s what last night was,” Wittman said prior to facing Orlando this evening. “We can’t look [at the] past, we gotta now look forward to what we’re going to do here tonight, and there’s going to be games where things don’t go your way, and we as a team have to try to overcome that with other things that you can bring to the table. That’s everybody, not Nick and JaVale. I found a group of guys last night that went out there in the second half and battle their tails off to put us in a position to win, and that’s basically why I went with them down the stretch. I went briefly back to Nick, and that group had a thing going on, and I just rode it.”
It remains to be seen how long Seraphin lasts against Dwight Howard and how long Young and McGee both remain on the bench. It’s worth pointing out, for one, that both players aren’t guaranteed to be in Washington next year, with Young’s qualifying offer deal expiring this season and McGee set to be a restricted free agent this summer, assuming the Wizards make him a qualifying offer.
That said, right now it’s more about Wittman exerting his control over the team and setting the tone for the second half of the season.
“I talked to him today, he’s fine,” Wittman said when asked about McGee’s reaction to getting benched in the second half against the Bucks. “I told him, ‘Last night’s game is over with. I need you to do what you can do,’ and that’s how we gotta approach it. Hey, everybody has their ups and downs. Learning experiences are always a valuable lesson, and how you digest it is really most important.”
The Wizards are still without Andray Blatche (calf), Ronny Turiaf (hand) and Rashard Lewis (sore left knee), the latter who also missed the Milwaukee game, too. Blatche said he’ll return to practice Thursday with the hopes of playing Saturday against Cleveland.
