Wizards maintain a positive attitude
The Washington Wizards still don’t have a three-game winning streak — and haven’t since April 2008 — and the fourth-quarter breakdown in Toronto on Saturday was certainly familiar.
But for now and for a change, positives are prevailing around the Wizards, who like what they’ve stirred up in the wake of jettisoned stars at the NBA trade deadline.
Even with their loss to the Raptors, the Wizards (19-34) are playing their most unselfish and entertaining basketball of the season.
In three games since the All-Star break, Washington has averaged 16 offensive rebounds, 22 assists, 39 points off the bench and more than 106 points a game. In two of the three contests, the Wizards had five different players score in double figures — the win over Minnesota on Wednesday was the aberration, in part because of Andray Blatche’s career-high 33 points.
“We’re getting better,” said Blatche, who also had 18 points against Denver on Friday and paced Washington with 24 against the Raptors, including 14 in the third quarter. “I like our attitude. I like our hustle. We’re going to be a great team.”
Some new players, such as Josh Howard and James Singleton, have even dared to say the word playoffs. But the Wizards remain 7 1/2 games out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 29 games remaining, and what’s more, the postseason wasn’t what the front office or the coaching staff had in mind.
“We all came out and played hard,” new arrival Al Thornton said after Friday’s win over the Nuggets. “That’s something they seem to be preaching around here.”
Said Wizards coach Flip Saunders: “When we made the decision to make changes, we thought about the type of players we wanted to bring in here. We wanted players that had a high basketball IQ, that played really hard, that didn’t give up on plays and were hungry. If we do that, then we’ll start setting the tone of how we want to play down the road.”
