The Wizards put a two-game losing streak to bed by managing to defeat a Nick Young-less Philadelphia 76ers squad, 90-87, despite a late surge fueled by Jrue Holiday. But, Washington didn’t escape without damage. Rookie Bradley Beal went down with an ankle sprain with just over two minutes left and did not return. He is likely to miss some time, but how much has yet to-be-determined. The injury, or at least the sight of Beal crumbled on the floor in the aftermath, left Wizards nation and the immediacy of Twitter gasping for breath — some quickly speculated that the issue was with his knee. After the game, Beal admitted that he initially thought it was worse than it was, but said that x-rays showed no significant damage to his ankle. He walked on crutches in the locker room; from my perspective, there didn’t look to be too much swelling.
Below, we have Randy Wittman’s post-game opener, my ESPN.com “Daily Dime Live” reaction submission, and then a video of Beal talking about his ankle injury.
Post-Game Randy
[Spoiler Alert: Wittman talks about laptops again.]
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 55, Washington Wizards at Toronto Raptors; contributors: Adam Rubin and Conor Dirks from the United States of America.]
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 54, Washington Wizards vs. Houston Rockets; contributors: Adam McGinnis and John Converse Townsend from the Verizon Center and Rashad Mobley from his favorite game-day seat.]
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 53, Washington Wizards vs Denver Nuggets; contributors: Adam McGinis and Kyle Weidie from the Verizon Center and Rashad Mobley from behind the television screen.]
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 52, Washington Wizards vs Toronto Raptors; contributors: John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie from the Verizon Center and Conor Dirks from the ATL.]
The Last of Jordan Crawford?
As previously described at the onset of the game, it was pretty much like that with Jordan Crawford for the entire game. He wrapped a towel over his head, he slouched at 45-degree angles, and at the end of the night, he threw his jersey into the crowd. One lucky lady caught it. Skuttlebutt said that some guy offered her $200 for it, but he didn’t have the money on him. Thanks to John Townsend, who coaxed her over for a phone pic so all the Internets could witness, this might be the last you ever see of a Jordan Crawford jersey in D.C.
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 51, Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons; contributors: Conor Dirks, Sean Fagan, and Kyle Weidie from behind the television screen.]
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 50, Washington Wizards at Milwaukee Bucks; contributors: Sean Fagan, Adam McGinnis and Kyle Weidie from behind the television screen.]
Real Deal Beal
[Bradley Beal shot chart vs Bucks, via NBA.com/stats]
Here to provide the DC Council Opening Statements for Washington’s 50th game of the season against the Bucks in Milwaukee are TAI’s Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) and guest Jeremy Schmidt (@Bucksketball), who contributes to the ESPN True Hoop Blog Bucksketball.
Wizards Starters (14-35):
John Wall, Garrett Temple, Martell Webster, Nene, Emeka Okafor
[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 49, Washington Wizards vs. Brooklyn Nets; contributors: Dan Diamond and John Converse Townsend from the Verizon Center, with Sean Fagan from B-R-DOUBLE OH!-K-L-Y-N.]
Watching the Wizards is different now. OK, it’s only halftime, but they are up 20 on the Nets, 51-31. And per the previous post, the stats are different, better… with certain player combinations (but mostly thanks to John Wall). Several players need to step it up. Otherwise, watching the Wizards is like a Brazilian rug-pulling dance now. Or whatever it was that Nene did to Brook Lopez to make him travel. GIF away.
