The schedule makers smiled on Randy Wittman, giving him an opponent more dismal than his own team for his first game as interim coach of the Wizards.
While a 20-point loss at Philadelphia two nights before had sealed the fate of former coach Flip Saunders, on Wednesday it was Witt?man’s team that took a 20-point lead into halftime en route to a quiet 92-75 blowout that gave the Charlotte Bobcats (3-16) even more losses than the Wizards (3-15).
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Wittman was happy for his players, but it didn’t make it any easier to take over for his close friend.
“I didn’t wake up,” Wittman said, growing teary-eyed thinking about his first full day on the job. “I never went to sleep. It’s been tough. This is tough. This is not anything I ever — the last time I had, I said I never want to do it again. I’m happy for them, but it’s tough to go through the things we’ve gone through.”
Coaching change or not, the Wizards dominated from the opening tip. Nick Young, whom Saunders had benched to start the third quarter in Philadelphia, had a game-high 20 points. Andray Blatche (17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) fought through the usual boos and having his own shot blocked five times for his fourth double-double of the year. The Bobcats needed 46 minutes to eclipse 70 points and avoid their lowest scoring game of the year.
“Me personally, Randy Wittman and Flip, they worked together,” Blatche said. “I can’t honestly say we needed a new voice. We just needed somebody to actually check us like Wittman did.”
The Wizards took a 19-8 lead less than six minutes into the contest on a 3-pointer from Young, who had 11 points in the first quarter.
In a sign that he could be willing to lean more on Washington’s youngsters, Wittman brought Jan Vesely (six points, six rebounds, three blocks) off the bench first, giving him a full six minutes in the opening quarter.
Jumping all over an undersized and inexperienced Charlotte front line, Blatche was three rebounds short of a double-double by halftime. His back-to-back layups and another by John Wall pushed the Wizards’ lead past the 20-point mark for the first time at 44-23.
Kemba Walker (eight points, four assists) dominated the ball for the Bobcats, reliving the glory of Connecticut’s NCAA championship victory over Butler last spring when he crossed up Shelvin Mack. He also missed 15 of 19 shots.
The Wizards held Charlotte to a season-low points in a half, taking a 48-28 lead into the break.
After the Bobcats cut the lead down to 52-39, Wall (12 points, four assists, seven turnovers) had two baskets and found Blatche for a dunk in a 10-2 run that restored the 20-plus point margin.
“I’m so happy for those guys in there, to see smiles on their face, to feel good,” Wittman said. “All the critiquing will be done tomorrow. We’ll clean things up on the practice floor before we head out to Houston [on Friday] but go out and enjoy this tonight because those kids deserve it.”
