The 5-7 Houston Rockets are in town to take on the 1-11 Washington Wizards. These two teams split their season series last season, the Wizards winning 98-91 in D.C. on November 10, 2010 in what was dubbed “Asian Heritage Night” as Yi Jianlian faced Yao Ming. The game was broadcast on NBA TV and also in front of millions in China. Unfortunately, Yao got injured after playing only six minutes in the first quarter; that game would be his last before retiring. Magic Johnson was in attendance, sitting courtside next to Ted Leonsis, John Wall recorded his first NBA triple double, and Cowboy Al Thornton was the unsung hero. Washington’s return trip to Houston on December 27 was a 100-93 loss under different circumstances. Not 10 days earlier Gilbert Arenas had been traded to Orlando and not three days earlier, JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche got to fighting in the club. For today’s game preview 3-on-3 we have Truth About It’s Sam Permutt, Michael Pina of TrueHoop Houston Rockets blog Red94 (and from the blogs Shaky Ankles and Wiz of Awes), and Matt Moore of TrueHoop blog Hardwood Paroxysm, CBSSports.com, and several other NBA-related places all over the web. Three questions, three answers starts now…

#1) Through 10 games, Houston’s point guard Kyle Lowry has a 24.6 PER, which ranks 11th in the NBA. He leads the Rockets with 17.8 points per game, and averages 6.9 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 3.5 turnovers. Comparatively, John Wall averages 13.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 4.2 turnovers (PER of 12.4). How do you see the battle between these two playing out?

MATT MOORE: Lowry’s going to kill him. Lowry’s been on fire for about a year now, which mostly means he’s not so much on fire as he is just becoming one of the top point guards in the league. Meanwhile, Wall is the primary threat on the Wizards, every team knows it, and he’s regressed in his second year. It’s nothing to panic over, he just needs to slow down when he finishes at the rim and take his time to think through the play sets. But Lowry’s a physical defender despite his size, and should give Wall an exhausting day.

SAM PERMUTT: This could be a good match-up for John Wall. Kyle Lowry is able to use his quickness and speed to his advantage against most point guards in the league, but Wall should have him beat in those categories. Still, Lowry is a very intelligent player, so expect him to get his also. Both guards will have good games.

MICHAEL PINA: Just looking at the numbers, to this point it’s obvious Lowry is having a far better season. But with no other reliable player on his team, Wall’s playing tight right now. The shot selection of his fellow backcourt mates has been atrocious. When watching Wall, it seems like he’s trying to do too much, forcing shots at the rim and having just 10.2-percent of his total shots assisted (good for lowest in the entire league among regular starters). Wall is an athletic phenom, but Lowry has relished these type of match-ups this season. Should be one of the game’s focal points.

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[Yao Ming & Shane Battier - K. Weidie]

Sometime during the second half of the Wizards’ 98-91 victory over the Houston Rockets last night, Ishmael Smith drove hard to the basket and scored on a layup. Shortly thereafter, one of the Wizards fans I follow on Twitter, tweeted the following:

“I have never heard of Ish Smith before this game. Now I have. I don’t like him.”

The reality is that before starting point guard Aaron Brooks went down with a sprained ankle earlier in the week, not many Wizards fan had any reason to know about rookie Ishmael Smith.  In fact, before I started doing research for last night’s game, I had no idea who he was either. But I should have.

Back in March of this year, Smith and his Wake Forest Demon Deacons, took on John Wall and the Kentucky Wildcats in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky ran roughshod over Wake Forest, 90-60.  Wall had 14 points and seven assists, while Smith struggled with just two points and four assists.

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Sixteen losses in a row and counting. The Wizards showed some bright spots in Tuesday night’s loss to Houston, such as JaVale McGee. Actually, he was pretty much the only bright spot. Well, James Singleton played okay.

Andray Blatche’s 31 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, three assists and three blocks you say? Well, when you play 41 minutes and receive the ball ALL. THE. TIME. (he took 23 shots) you are supposed to put up those numbers. He still has too much Tin Man in him … no heart … especially when it comes to rebounding toughness.

The Wizards mostly showed that they did not deserve to win. I’m sure some are saying, ‘Hey, those guys competed without Foye, Thornton, Gee, etc.’ But the Rockets also competed without Kevin Martin, Shane Battier and Jared Jeffries. Plus, the Wizards were beaten by Chase Budinger. Enough said.

Nonetheless, below are the notes and observations I took/made as I watched the game on delay at my leisure.

Note: Starters: Livingston, Young, Miller, Blatche & Oberto — 25th different starting lineup, 21 wins … something to be said about that ratio.

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After Tuesday’s game against the Rockets, James Singleton said, “After every game I go home and watch film. I look at more of the negatives than the positives because the positives are going to happen. But the negatives you want to keep to a small minimum.”

And while there isn’t any adjusting I can personally do for this Washington Wizards basketball team, these screen-shot posts tend to focus on the negatives for the same reason outlined by Singleton. The positives are going to happen because that’s what the Wizards are trying to do. I want to know when they weren’t trying. And away we go…

“This” guy.

THIS guy.

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I plan on breaking-down Tuesday’s loss to the Rockets in screen shots at some point in the near future. But until then, here are some pictures of various Houston Rockets from the pre-game shoot-around followed by some of the best of what was said about the game.

No longer your daddy, just Battier.

Argentine Thoughts.

Things looking up for Hilton Armstrong?

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flickr/kris247

When the San Antonio Spurs asked Ernie Grunfeld what it would take to get the 5th pick in June 25th’s draft, Grunfeld simply responded, “Manu Ginobili,” or so goes the purported story relayed by the Washington Post’s Michael Lee.

Despite Ginobili’s old age and injury issues, sounds like a pretty absurd counter request (assuming only expiring contracts/low value players would accompany the pick) for one of the top gamers in the NBA. Spurs brass certainly would not expect to give up one of their top three stars for a pick in what most are saying is a down draft.

Grunfeld is not ridiculous, nor is he stupid. He’s just playing hardball knowing the pick will only increase in value heading up to the draft. Case in point would be the hype surrounding Stephen Curry and interest from the Knicks to possibly trade up to get him (amongst Wizards’ threats to draft Curry themselves). Whether Grunfeld’s old team would deal with him might be another story.

Forget what you’ve heard about this being a down draft. Even the worst drafts produce hidden gems, and every GM, with their egos, confidence, and scouting reports think they can mine the next one. A pick’s value is in the size of the target on a slotted player’s back placed there by interested parties.

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To see all 14 of the NBA Draft Lottery faces, head over to Hardwood Paroxysm.

What “They” Are Saying:

Tom Knott: No Griffin, no Rubio and no luck – Washington Times

Michael Wilbon: When the Lotto Gives You Lemons . . . – Washington Post Read more »

David Stern’s Dream Scenario:
Blake Griffin to the Wizards and Ricky Rubio to the Knicks
(that’s right, Stern would rather Griffin in DC than OKC)

Well folks, we made it … to NBA Draft Lottery evening. It’s been a while since I’ve cared about one of these. Four years of Wizards playoff action did it’s job to erase some of the memories. And when the Wizards last won the lottery in ’01, I was away in college, a bit lost in my following of the team.

Part of me has been somewhat giddy as I’ve gone through today, knowing that there is a chance. But then again, I’m a Wizards fan … I’m pretty sure we will NOT be landing in the top two. Guess finding a balance between these two is keeping medium, as Jim Zorn would advise.

I’m not really a superstitious person … no consistent lucky charms, just an odd infatuation with May 19th (so much so that I ran the ESPN lottery machine 19 times today, results below).

But I’ll surely find something “lucky” to do tonight, such as laying out all my Wizards/Bullets jerseys on the floor, starting with a #1 Rod Strickland Wiz jersey, followed by a #2 Chris Webber Bullets jersey, but definitely not a #4 Webber Bullets jersey. C-Webb will be on-stage representing the SacTown Kings, maybe the #4 will bring him bad luck.

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