Heat 123, Wizards 107: Postgame wrap

John Wall didn’t back down after he was hit by Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ elbows, and he didn’t duck the incident afterward. Given that his little scuffle took place early in the second quarter, Wall had plenty of time to bolt from Verizon Center. But similar to the way he’s fought on despite the adversity that the team has faced this year, he stood in front of the cameras and microphones afterward and took on the incident head first.

“I just got hit by his elbow and reacted to it,” Wall said. “I’m disappointed in the way I reacted. I let my teammates down, let my organization down, but I’m glad to see that my teammates fought hard and tried to compete tonight and come away with a win… There were two elbows. I got hit with the first one, and I stopped, and then the second one, I got hit, and I just reacted.”

When asked about Wall’s potential to be suspended an additional game, Wizards head coach Flip Saunders gave his prized rookie point guard the benefit of the doubt. The video evidence might say otherwise.

<p>“From what the referees said, I don’t think it warrants [a suspension] because it was just elbows that were thrown, not punches,” Saunders said. “I’m assuming that it’ll be okay.”</p> <p>The problem is, it was a punch to Big Z’s ribs.</p> <p>“I wish I would’ve did that another way and not get ejected, but I just reacted and let my teammates down,” Wall said. “That’s the toughest part.”</p> <p> </p> <p><i>As for the rest of the fracas that ensued, <b>JaVale McGee</b> and others tried to play peacemaker, but <b>Juwan Howard</b> pretty much ruined that for everyone</i>, just as he wrecked <b>Hilton Armstrong</b> when the former Wizards big man tried to pick up <b>Joel Anthony</b> following a hard foul down in Miami in November.</p> <p>“I don’t know,” said McGee, who was shoved mightily and nearly found himself in his own fight. “I guess he wants to be a tough guy.”</p> <p>Saunders ended up being the guy to help hold off Howard from doing any more escalating than he’d already done.</p> <p>“We both just kind of asked where we were going to go out to dinner after the game,” Saunders joked.</p> <p> </p> <p><i>With Wall out, <b>Jordan Crawford</b> went off, as <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sL3KDhhUZ0″>he seems to have a history of doing against <b>LeBron James</b></a>.</i> His career-high 39 points were the most for a Wizards rookie since <b>Tom Gugliotta</b> against Utah on Nov. 21, 1992.</p> <p>“In basketball, at the end of the day, names don’t really matter,” Crawford said. “I think if you just go out there and play all you can, you always give yourself a chance, and we proved – we gave ourselves a chance tonight. But them three all-stars [James, <b>Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh</b>], we really couldn’t stop them at the end.”</p> <p>Crawford has taken his growing role in stride since his arrival in Washington last month. But he’s on track to be more than just a role player. The way he both refuses to lose and refuses to let bad shooting nights prevent him from finding ways to contribute, Crawford is taking a tried and true path to success: making himself valuable.</p> <p>“I couldn’t believe they was actually thinking about throwing John out,” Crawford humbly said. “I didn’t even know until Coach Wittman brought me over and said, ‘You might be running the point for the rest of the game.’”</p> <p>Yet, Crawford versus <b>Mike Bibby</b> or <b>Eddie House</b>? Edge to the rookie. (A corollary might be nervousness for a team expecting to compete for an NBA title, but that’s another story.)</p> <p>Crawford, of course, was asked if there was any lingering talk about his dunk on James a few summers ago.</p> <p>“Who, me and LeBron talk about it? Nah, we ain’t talk about it,” Crawford said. “I don’t even know him. I just see him play. It happened a long time ago, but it’s a big thing so I’m just letting it ride.”</p> <p> </p> <p><i>One more thing on Crawford and James – they were both involved the game’s deciding play.</i></p> <p>James had just extended Miami’s lead, which had been down to one point, back to seven, 101-94, with a 3-pointer with 5:48 to play.</p> <p>On the next Wizards possession, he and Crawford both went for loose ball at midcourt, where James’ length and bulk both prevailed. While Crawford tumbled to the ground, James ended up with a dunk, and the game was essentially put out of reach.</p> <p>“I thought that could’ve been a call, and we didn’t get it,” Saunders said. “[James] gets it done going the other way. It’s kind of a game changer. But that’s what happens with young teams. A lot of times you don’t get those calls. It’s part of the learning process. For our guys, it’s competitive, but I guess the good thing is they kept on fighting through it. I can’t fault them. I appreciate them, how hard they worked.”</p> <p> </p> <p><i>Other notables:</i> <b>Andray Blatche</b> with 14 points and 8 rebounds off the bench after missing the last 10 games with a strained right shoulder, although he begged for a technical foul late in the third period at a time where it could’ve really stifled his team’s comeback; <b>Othyus Jeffers</b> with 15 points and 8 rebounds; McGee with four blocks, including two mammoth swats on Wade and Bosh at the rim on consecutive trips down the floor; <b>Maurice Evans</b> with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, good enough to force the Heat defense to not leave him alone; <b>James Jones</b> had 12 points off the bench for Miami and played tough defense; James earned a technical in the fourth then missed two free throws, but he was unfazed, hitting a jumper the next time down the floor.</p> <p>So, Miami won, but Washington matured. That’ll work with eight games to go.</p> <p>“We’re showing that we’re more resilient than we were at the start of the year,” Evans said. “We’ve been playing shorthanded, and John got thrown out, and obviously he does a great job running the team and getting the ball where it’s supposed to go and putting pressure on the defense. Everybody had to step up and Jordan did a great job taking over and scoring-wise. That’s what he does. I’m just impressed with everybody’s fight tonight.”</p>