The week of March 18 was a groundbreaking of sorts for the heartbreaking Washington Wizards.
The club introduced its latest addition, center Nene, to the lineup, and the rugged power player generated some good results. The addition of a 29-year-old center with legitimate post moves appeared to rejuvenate the club as they played with renewed vigor.
But even the presence of a former All-Star couldn’t cure the club’s inability to close out games and maintain leads, as Washington blew leads of 22 and 16 points in two home games.
March 18—Memphis 97, Washington 92: John Wall stole the show, but Memphis swingman Rudy Gay stole the game by scoring five points in the final minute to stave off the pesky Wizards. Gay’s three-pointer with less than 24 seconds left gave Memphis a seven-point cushion. That would be all the room they would need after Wall’s layup made it a four-point game with 46 seconds left. Wall was fantastic, scoring 25 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks, but outside of Jordan Crawford’s 22 points, Washington just couldn’t muster enough offense to overtake the Grizzlies on the road.
March 21—Washington 108, New Jersey, 89: Perhaps inspired by the debut of Nene, who scored 22 points, 10 rebounds, and one block the Wizards won every quarter but one in a blowout visit to the Nets. Further help came for the Wizards when Nets point guard Deron Williams and head coach Avery Johnson were both ejected midway through the third quarter after arguing with a referee, leaving New Jersey without its best player and coach. Reserve guard Roger Mason added 16 points off the bench and Crawford scored a game-high 23 points. Nene was a bull in the paint all night, recording eight points in the opening quarter. The 6-foot, 11-inch big man was smooth all night and allowed his latest band of teammates to get off to an excellent start.
March 22—Indiana 85, Washington 83: Nene’s home debut against Indiana couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. Washington was flying around the court, making the right passes and plays before it all went south. The Wizards led by as much as 22 points before being outscored by the same margin in the second half. Offensive rebounds simply killed the Wizards in the waning minutes, as Pacers guard Paul George nailed a three-pointer following a second chance possession that put Indiana ahead 84-83 with a minute left. Washington had a chance to tie the game on the last possession, but Wall’s floater was waved off as the ball released from his hand as the game clock already expired. Crawford led the team with 21 points and five assists.
March 24—Atlanta 95, Washington 92: Same script, different cast. The Wizards once again jumped out to another double-digit lead at home, but couldn’t hold off a disengaged Hawks club that waited until the fourth quarter before rallying from 16 points down to steal the game. Former Hawk and current Wizards guard Jordan Crawford scored 20 points and recorded three rebounds. Only three players scored in double figures for the Wizards. Joe Johnson nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with less than a minute left to give the Hawks the lead and the game.
Wizards Weekly: The arrival of Nene brought stability to a sputtering offense. His consistency in the paint allows guards John Wall and Jordan Crawford to play freely without having to worry about the offense going through them. Former center JaVale McGee was never the go-to post player that he was drafted to be, but at times was nevertheless very active around the rim. Washington will miss McGee’s defense, but the addition of Nene’s offense gives the team a dimension it hasn’t had since the days of Juwan Howard and Chris Webber.
