So, after the Wizards 100-92 loss in their second straight game against Boston on consecutive nights, the question is, was the first game – a 94-86 loss on Sunday – or the second one the aberration?
If you’re the Wizards, stick with the shortened memory. Every game is played on its own with different variables affecting different teams. Given the age of the Celtics and their not-quite-as-threatening second unit, the door was open to steal a victory, especially with the Wizards cautiously optimistic about the way they played in the second half last night and determined to make a better showing, which they did.
But competitiveness doesn’t win games by itself. Not when Ray Allen makes six of seven 3-point attempts and Paul Pierce adds another four on nine attempts. In some ways, it felt similar to the preseason home-and-away series against Philadelphia, in which the Wizards showed signs of life in the second game after getting embarrassed in the first but still fell short on mistakes down the stretch combined with clutch shooting from the opponent – in that case, Jrue Holiday.
Actually, compete-but-fall-short was really the expectation coming into the year, too, before things unraveled so badly in the first four games, and there’s no telling whether the Wizards move forward from here, or as they did after the first half against New Jersey, take more steps backward.
With all that said, three other thoughts:
That was weirdly animated from Wizards coach Flip Saunders, getting himself ejected before two minutes had gone by, almost too early to actually play a role in lifting his team. Instead, the baton was passed to assistant coach Randy Wittman, who got only 50 minutes and 17 points from his bench. The Celtics got 71 minutes and 23 points, though most it came from Brandon Bass (14 points in 31 minutes).
The Wizards started the year believing in their depth and youth, but neither materialized in this game even though the second night of a back-to-back would’ve made it seem like the right opportunity. It doesn’t help that the Wizards lost Ronny Turiaf to a broken hand for more than a month, but Jan Vesely and Mo Evans are still yet to play a single minute.
Andray Blatche (28 points, nine rebounds) and JaVale McGee (17 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks) both had huge nights, with Blatche getting 14 points in the fourth quarter alone. They also handled Kevin Garnett (10 points, six rebounds, six assists) better than they had the night before. But rookie D-League graduate Greg Stiemsma still had 13 points and seven boards, combining with the aforementioned Bass to give Rajon Rondo (six points, 13 assists) plenty to work with offensively. Boston also rested Jermaine O’Neal. Not to diminish their quality production, but it simply stands to reason that while Blatche and McGee need to remember what they did tonight, they need also to remember that there is more to be done.
The Wizards fell flat because Nick Young had another terrible night shooting and John Wall committed four of his seven turnovers and only one of his eight assists in the final quarter. Young missed 11 of his 14 shot attempts, including all four from beyond the arc. Lucky for him, Jordan Crawford was even worse off the bench, missing five of six and making the competition for starting shooting guard a race to the bottom.
Wall is more of a victim of a team that’s not quite sure who to turn to down the stretch. He’s not a natural scorer, and his teammates haven’t developed any reliability in clutch situations. They’re still trying to figure out how to be competitive for the first three and a half quarters. If they can do that – instead of showing up in the second half after spotting the opposition a double-digit lead early – it’s progress.
