A five-game losing streak haunted the Washington Wizards for most of the week. Until a dominating performance against a Philadelphia team that has beaten the Wizards three times—often in embarrassing fashion—refueled the team as they headed into the last month of the National Basketball Association regular season. There will be no NBA playoffs for the Wizards this season so the month of April will give fans and player evaluators one last chance to critique the team. After the way the team handled the 76ers, a playoff challenger, the Wizards may just be ready to make one last push.
March 25, Wizards, 76-Boston, 88— This one was over before it started. The Wizards fell behind 27-12 after the first quarter and never recovered from the knockout blow it was dealt early by an energized Boston team playing in front of its fans. Despite a short-handed Celtics club, shooting guard Ray Allen missed the game with a sore ankle, seldom-used guard Avery Bradley gave Boston a spark with 23 points in place of Allen. Wizards guard Jordan Crawford has emerged as the team’s go-to scorer since the trade of guard Nick Young, Crawford found himself in his usual position, leading the Wizards with 20 points.
March 26, Wizards, 77-Detroit, 79—Another low scoring affair for Washington saw them head back to the Verizon Center on the second night of a back-to-back to face the Pistons. The Wizards led by 13 points in the second half before giving way to Detroit guard Rodney Stuckey (24 points) who helped sting the Wizards with 12 points in the final quarter. Despite holding Detroit to a woeful 36 percent shooting night, Washington just couldn’t muster any offense as it scored just 15 points in the final quarter. Crawford led the team again with 20 points.
March 29, Wizards, 89-Indiana, 93—Payback was on the minds of the upset-seeking Wizards as they traveled to Indiana in search of avenging a difficult loss that the Pacers issued them the previous week. Indiana returned from 22 points down the prior week on the road in Washington to steal a win and although Washington held tough for four quarters, a more talented Pacers squad was able to ring up another one against the Wizards. The Pacers sidestepped another 20-point game from Crawford to close the contest on a 13-7 run. Center Nene was also efficient, adding 16 points, 13 rebounds, one steal and one block. Indiana forward Danny Granger led all scorers with 25 points. The loss was Washington’s fifth straight.
March 30, Wizards, 97-Philadelphia, 76—The Wizards’ losing streak had to end somewhere so what better team to end it against than the team Washington hasn’t beaten all season Washington exploded to a 19-point halftime lead but this time never relinquished it, stomping the 76ers at the Verizon Center despite losing two-thirds of its starting front court to similar injuries. Both Nene and power forward Trevor Booker left the contest early with pulled ligaments in their left feet. However, with Booker and Nene ailing, reserve forward Kevin Seraphin (14 points, seven rebounds), center Jan Vesely (11 rebounds, six points) and resigned swingman Cartier Martin (team-high 20 points) were there to pick up the missing slack. It’s unclear how long both Booker and Nene will be out but their pain threshold will go a long way toward determining their status for the upcoming week, according to head coach Randy Wittman.
Weekly Observations: Jordan Crawford has secured the shooting guard role left by Young and is running the position as well, if not better, than his predecessor. Crawford’s ability to handle the ball and run the offense already makes him a better set-up man than Young. The sophomore guard out of Xavier still takes a large number of bad shots but maturity should help him make better decisions. Crawford’s emergence now gives Washington a solid pairing to go with guard John Wall in the backcourt.
