It was clear at shootaround this morning even before Wizards head coach Flip Saunders confirmed that John Wall would not play against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, given that Wall was walking down the halls of Verizon Center wearing a boot and using the aid of crutches to keep the pressure off of his sprained left foot.
“He won’t play tonight,” said Saunders. “Don’t know about tomorrow [at Boston].”
Saunders said Yi Jianlian (right knee bone bruise, hyperextension) will also be out but it appears Andray Blatche should be good to go.
“Considering he went all day yesterday, I would be surprised if he didn’t – he’ll probably play,” said Saunders.
With Wall in civilian clothes, Gilbert Arenas appears set to make his first start of the year and first start since he was suspended in January.
“Gil’s coming off a pretty good game so we’ll start him more than likely if he’s ready to go,” said Saunders. “It will be a good challenge for us. They’re playing well right now.”
Like Washington, Toronto (2-8) also owns only one pair of victories. But the Raptors ended a six game losing streak with an upset at Orlando on Friday, and they also hung tough with Miami before losing by eight points on Saturday. Andrea Bargnani (20.5 ppg) and DeMar DeRozan (13.9 ppg) combined for 96 points over those two contests.
