In an ideal world, the All-Star break is enough time off for a team to get recharged, rejuvenated and turn over a new leaf upon its return. But in their first game back from what is actually just a long weekend, the Wizards looked much the same as they did in their last home game 10 days earlier, submitting meekly to visiting Indiana 113-96. Washington’s last home loss was a 118-94 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs (46-10), who own the best record in the NBA. With only a slim hold on the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers (25-30) hardly compare but had just as easy a time breaking free of the Wizards with a 15-3 run to start the second half. Danny Granger scored 12 of his team-high 21 points and gathered six of his 10 rebounds. Former Georgetown center Roy Hibbert had seven of his 16 points in the third quarter as Indiana outscored Washington 65-38 over the middle two quarters.
Andray Blatche led the Wizards (15-40) with a team-high 21 points, 12 of which came in the first quarter when the game was still competitive. John Wall had his 19th double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Fittingly, the Wizards’ first bucket after the All-Star break came when Wall, the rookie challenge MVP, fed dunk contest runner-up JaVale McGee (five points, eight rebounds) for an alley-oop slam.
| Up Next | ||
| Wizards at 76ers | ||
| When » | Wednesday, 7 p.m. | |
| Where » | Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia | |
| TV » | Comcast SportsNet | |
Washington then withstood a 12-2 Pacers run before fighting back with a 10-2 streak behind eight points from Blatche.
With Wall on the bench and in foul trouble, Kirk Hinrich out with a calf injury and Mustafa Shakur released after his second 10-day contract came to an end, Josh Howard (14 points, five rebounds) took over at the point and helped Washington scrap for the final 10 points of the quarter.
In his first game at Verizon Center since Dec. 29, Howard rescued his own miss by slapping a rebound off Dahntay Jones’ knee, then crossing over his defender for a left-handed finish off the glass to give the Wizards a 30-25 lead.
But hustle quickly turned to rust as the Wizards allowed Indiana’s bench to assert control in the second quarter and take a 58-49 lead into halftime. Every Pacers player who came off the bench scored in the quarter — all 12 Indiana players scored in the game — led by Tyler Hansbrough, who finished the night with 17 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
