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.]
“[Bradley Beal] is very talented. … He can play without the ball, he can put alot of pressure on the defense and he can shoot it. He is the future of the NBA.” —Jason Kidd.
On January 28, Bradley Beal struggled in a home game against the Sacramento Kings. He played 24 minutes and went 2-for-6 from the field. His sprained wrist was bothering him, a lot. After that night, Beal missed the next five games while recovering from injury.
Jordan Crawford was given a chance to step up against Sacramento, and in the subsequent thee-game road trip: Philadelphia, Memphis and San Antonio. Instead, the Wizards lost all four games (in which Garrett Temple started at the 2, not Jordan Crawford). During the losing streak, Crawford played 73 total minutes, went 8-for-27 from the field, 2-for-9 from beyond the arc, and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. He scored 21 total points, dished out four assists, and committed seven turnovers.
Now, Jordan Crawford is a Washington Wizards outcast. How did it happen so fast?
Crawford played extremely limited minutes in the two games after the Wizards returned to D.C. from San Antonio—five minutes in a win over the Clippers and six minutes in a win over the Knicks. He didn’t play at all in a February 8 home win over Brooklyn nor in a subsequent road win in Milwaukee. He couldn’t even get off the bench during a pitiful pre-All-Star break loss in Detroit, when the Wizards desperately needed scoring. And Crawford certainly didn’t play in the first game post-break, a pitiful loss against the Raptors at home. Didn’t act like he wanted to play.
The Wizards beat the Clippers, 98-90, on Monday night. This is your reaction…
Closing Time.
The proverbial set-up: ‘So Randy, how about those Clippers and injuries…?’ (L.A. played without Chris Paul, knee bruise, and Blake Griffin, hamstring strain.)
M.V.P.
Where would the Wizards be without Martell Webster? That was the first question I asked myself after the game. Washington made seven of their 12 measured 3-point attempts. Well, mostly measured. Jordan Crawford chucked up an ill-advised 3 with 7:18 left in the second quarter that got him benched for the rest of the game, but that’s another story. Webster was the star of this night with a team-high 21 points on 5-for-6 from deep. It was his fourth 20-point game of the season, and to that he added five rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers. The Wizards have long been desperate for shooters. And they knew Webster could shoot, but did they expect this?
A new season for the Wizards? It sure seems that way after the debut of John Wall and a win against the Atlanta Hawks. Sure, no one is getting ahead of themselves, but they can totally think about getting ahead. Past losses are not absolved, but the future looks a lot brighter, or at least more fun to watch, with a healthy Wall (and Nene, and others). What gets lost in both the over- and underestimation from the toll of losing is the importance of playing within roles. The difference between the seventh and eighth players in the pecking order trying to bump up to the fourth or fifth spots in the rotation is vastly unconsidered and under-appreciated Now, at least, the ensemble is more complete. On Saturday, A.J. Price said he didn’t feel like the Wizards had a “fair shake” due to all the injuries, but that they are ready to give it their all over the last 48 games. The playoffs? Shoot, these players just want to play.
“I really feel like we have a fighting chance to make a great impression on the league, to really show the league what we’re capable of doing. As long as we keep the mindset in understanding that John is the maestro, and we got to get out and run, I think we’ll be good.” —Martell Webster
New year? Same season? New life? Fresh breath? Whatever it is, it’s something, and it’s because the pack is (mostly) back together. And as Nene puts it: “It’s good to have our dogs, man, our dogs back.”
Chris Singleton’s run of eight straight starts for the Wizards ended on December 19 against the Magic in Orlando. Actually, it ended at halftime of the December 18 game against the Hawks when Randy Wittman opted for the since waived Earl Barron to begin the third quarter. Since, Singleton has struggled to get on the floor. His coach hasn’t played him in three of the Wizards’ last four games, and the game in which Singleton did see the court, against the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 26, he only managed to do so for 6.5 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds.
Before tonight’s game against the Mavericks, Wittman’s reason as to the absence of Singleton was simple: not enough minutes.
“There’s not enough minutes to play everybody … can’t play everybody,” said the coach. Certainly there’s more to it. The coach also mentioned the oft-used concept of consistency. But will Singleton have a chance to find it, especially with depleted resources and underwhelming performances from those such as Jan Vesely?
I’m not going to call the locker room scene after Washington’s second loss to Detroit in as many nights on Saturday interesting. It wasn’t exactly a sad place. It wasn’t exactly unique. I don’t know what it was. And I’m pretty sure the players don’t know either. But it was something.
Kevin Seraphin sat crouched on the floor, only in his game shorts, next to a seated and suited (and currently indefinitely injured) Trevor Booker at his locker. Cartier Martin, with an adjacent locker, seemed to be part of a trio rapping about the days problems with concern, wondering about a fractured locker room. In reality, and in all likelihood, basketball was probably the furthest topic from their discussions. Or maybe they were talking about waived teammates.
Shaun Livingston was already dressed and ready to exit by the time the media was allowed access to the Wizards’ locker room. Earl Barron was scrambling to gather his things. Minutes later, the news would surface that both had been cut. The Washington Post’s Michael Lee knew, evidently, as he chased Livingston around the corner for one last interview.
John Wall had already exited the locker room, in a suit that actually fits him (his suit game has really excelled during these injured times). Nene sat near his massive, standard post-game ice bucket, still in uniform, looking rather depressed (or embarrassed). Bradley Beal provided his prerequisite “first thank God and Jesus Christ for blessing me with this opportunity” before answering the first question posed by the press. (Nene eschewed giving God a shout-out before speaking on this particular night; normally, he does not.) Martell Webster looked weary and worn out, ready to appreciate two days off with his family. Jordan Crawford donned his shades full of steez before meeting the media—normally, this season, Crawford has made sure to remove his glasses before talking post-game. Not this night.
As Washington’s dreary season slogs along, faithful followers of this 2-15 team should realize that no loss is a surprise anymore. Blowouts, overtime defeats, missed game-winners, unsuccessful comebacks, and so many—nay, too many—“moral victories.” Even the Wizards’ two wins caused discomfort throughout their conclusions. Personally, I expect the worst and then laugh at the absurdity of the outcomes to mask my disappointed sorrow.
Twitter hashtags #SoWizards and #BecauseWizards exist for a reason. And, somehow, the Wizards found yet another unique way to lose an NBA contest on Saturday night, falling to Golden State, 101-97. This squad continues to be stricken by late-game calamity.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry made two free throws to put Warriors up three points, 99-96, with eight seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Warriors then wisely fouled Wizards guard Bradley Beal on the floor before he was able to get a potential game-tying 3-point shot off. Randy Wittman acknowledged in post game presser that it was a wise strategy employed by the Warriors since Washington was out of timeouts. Beal was surprised by the foul, believing that he was in the act of shooting.
“I didn’t know they were going to foul. I thought he was going to let me shoot, but the ref called it. He said that he called it before I shot it. But I didn’t take another dribble, so I thought it was three shots. … It was a smart foul because you shoot two free throws.”
“We just broke through the ice. That ice was about—I’ve lived in Minnesota for 15, 17 years—that ice was four to five feet deep, but it’s broken through now.”
—Randy Wittman
You break through the ice, you can breathe. Now the Wizards need to learn how to swim. Every player knows how close they came to blowing that game against Portland, but they won. Now they don’t have to focus on that zero in the win column. Hopefully they can more focus on basketball. These are your Wednesday night winners after breaking through the ice… Jordan Crawford, Bradley Beal, Nene, Martell Webster, Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor, Chris Singleton, and Randy Wittman, head coach.
Before tonight’s game, TAI spoke with Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts about how Nene, who is playing tonight, affects his game plan; about not wanting to be the first to lose to the winless Wizards; and about what positives he does see out of Washington.
Stotts: “They know their record. I think every NBA player has a lot of pride, and everybody in our locker room has a lot of pride. None of them want to be part of the team that gives the Wizards their first win, and, at the base of it, I think that’s what you try to instill or appeal to is their pride, and go out and play as hard as you can.”
TAI also briefly spoke with Wizards point guard Shaun Livingston, who is also a go tonight against Portland, about facing heralded Blazers rookie Damian Lillard.
