The Wizards aren’t the same team they were three weeks ago when they lost on back-to-back nights home and away against the Boston Celtics – and neither are the Celtics.
While the Wizards have played better over the last three and a half games, Boston comes into Washington having lost six of its last seven games and will be without all-star point guard Rajon Rondo (right wrist).
“I think we’re playing pretty good right now,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. “We’re scoring more, and I think our guys are playing a lot more confident because we are scoring more. We’re rebounding better. Because we’re scoring more, we’re also giving up more because we’ve played teams that have been very much up and down transition teams. Boston is totally different.”
But while the Wizards may have an advantage in Avery Bradley starting at point guard, they might as well be playing shorthanded themselves with Andray Blatche on the floor, where the boos have been relentless for the last two games and helped Blatche to an 0 for 7 shooting performance with five fouls and three turnovers on Friday against Denver.
“I told Dray, ‘You’re in a situation where you’ve lost some trust from the fans. How you get that trust back is just by doing little things,’” Saunders said. “Winning cures a lot of those things.”
But the Wizards aren’t changing their starting lineup even though Blatche would rather his name not even be said over the loudspeaker. With the fans in his head, it’s as if the Wizards are playing four-versus-five when he’s on the floor, even if he was a plus-4 against Denver.
“He’s a big boy,” Saunders said. “He can deal with it. It’s all a part of it, and we’ll get through it. We put the lineup on the floor that we feel is going to be the best to start the game, the best matchups and the guys that are going to go off the bench…We’re not going to make a decision on whether he starts or not based on what the fan reaction is.”
Washington’s other forward, rookie Chris Singleton, matched his season high with 12 points against the Nuggets, but Saunders said his defense has continued to be ragged and inconsistent since a move into the starting lineup. His matchup this afternoon: Paul Pierce, who got the best of him in the team’s first meeting. Singleton said his toughest guard was Carmelo Anthony.
“I feel everybody’s scoring on me,” Singleton said. “Then as soon as I sit down, they don’t want to shoot no more.”
