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Our next opponent also played last night

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  • Our next opponent also played last night

    ....and also have a 4-1 record. The Wiz. Here is a Wash. Post report of the game...

    This is not intended to hijack the game thread!!


    Wednesday night’s meeting between the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers, a rematch of an Eastern Conference semifinal, had lost its luster. Since the schedule was compiled over the summer and the matchup was assigned a national television audience, the Pacers had suffered a debilitating four-month stretch and a massive roster makeover.

    Despite having just one starter remaining from May’s playoff series and 10 healthy players available, the Pacers did not relent. The undermanned unit outrebounded, outhustled and slowed the Wizards into a grisly affair, but Washington, fueled by another strong defensive effort, prevailed, 96-94, in overtime at Verizon Center.

    “They’re all not going to be easy, but the good thing is we got the win,” Wizards forward/center Drew Gooden said. “They’re not all going to be pretty wins. There are going to be some ugly ones, and tonight was ugly.”

    The Wizards, winners of four straight, are 4-1 and off to their best start since beginning the 2005-06 campaign 5-1. They are three games over .500 through five games after needing 59 contests to accomplish the feat last season.

    Point guard John Wall led the way with 31 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals. He utilized his speed to torment the Pacers’ defense with penetration, which often resulted in kick-outs to open teammates on the perimeter, baskets at the rim or trips to the free throw line. He went 8 for 9 from the line and recorded seven of his points in overtime. The double-double was his fourth in five games this season; he had 29 double-doubles last season.


    The Post Sports Live crew discusses Otto Porter's outstanding play and why the Wizards shouldn't worry too much during Bradley Beal's absence. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)
    “I thought John was the one guy offensively who kept us going,” Coach Randy Wittman said. “When things would bog down a little bit, he got us an easy basket in transition or got somebody else an easy basket. Thirty-one and 10 is not bad. Not bad.”

    Wall’s back-court mate, Garrett Temple, added 16 points, including four three-pointers. Center Marcin Gortat chipped in with a double-double, netting 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But the Wizards were horrid on offensive otherwise. Paul Pierce scored 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting. Gooden shot 1 for 7. Otto Porter Jr. made just one of five shots. As a whole, Washington shot 37.4 percent from the field.

    Yet rebounding was the Wizards’ biggest flaw. The Pacers gathered 57 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive end, to the Wizards’ 43 total and tallied 17 second-chance points. Wittman attributed the shorthanded Pacers keeping it close to the lapses on the boards and hustle plays.

    “I just thought it was second-chance opportunities for them,” Wittman said. “I thought initially our half-court defense was pretty good. . . . The 50-50 balls, we got none. I just thought they beat us on the hustle points there.”

    Wall’s counterpart, Donald Sloan, paced Indiana (1-4) with a career-high 31 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Chris Copeland contributed 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds off the bench.

    It was a rematch, at least on paper, of May’s Eastern Conference semifinal in which the Pacers won all three contests at Verizon Center en route to a six-game series victory. The recent history was the reason for the ESPN broadcast, the first of the Wizards’ 10 national television games this season after they had appeared on that stage just once since Thanksgiving 2010.

    But a completely different Pacers team, decimated by a tumultuous offseason and costly injuries, arrived in the District. First, triple-double threat Lance Stephenson left the Pacers to sign with the Charlotte Hornets. Then all-star Paul George snapped his leg in half during a Team USA scrimmage and was ruled out for the season three months before it began. To complete the attrition, David West (ankle), C.J. Watson (foot), George Hill (knee) and Rodney Stuckey (foot) are nursing injuries and did not play.


    Garrett Temple (16 points, seven rebounds, four assists in 42 minutes) is thriving while injured guard Bradley Beal convalesces. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)
    Ten healthy players were all that was left for the depleted Pacers, and they put up a fight. But the Wizards relentlessly hounded the overmatched Pacers. Indiana shot 38.9 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. It is the recipe — defense masking offensive inefficiencies — the Wizards used in Tuesday’s rout of the New York Knicks. One night later, it wasn’t as pretty, but it worked again.

    “Obviously, we’ve got to clean up some things,” Pierce said. “It’s not always going to be perfect, and that’s what we talk about. Sometimes you’ve got to find ways to win. We always talk about winning the rebound war, but tonight we got crushed on the rebound war and we found a way to win.”

  • #2
    i wonder if amir and JV get to play this one. if not, we'll probably lose on the boards big time once again.

    Comment


    • #3
      iblastoff wrote: View Post
      i wonder if amir and JV get to play this one. if not, we'll probably lose on the boards big time once again.
      I have a tough time seeing the Raps winning this game without Amir or JV. If one or the other play, there's a much better chance.
      That is a normal collar. Move on, find a new slant.

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      • #4
        Other Scott wrote: View Post
        I have a tough time seeing the Raps winning this game without Amir or JV. If one or the other play, there's a much better chance.
        nene and gortat are monsters. i have no idea how we're gonna stop them. humphries has also killed us before when he was with the celtics. our bigs have to step it up huge.

        maybe if we make bebe sit on chuck hayes shoulders and just wave his arms around wildly around the net.

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        • #5
          Ironically, the Wiz got beat on the boards as well in their game...see Pierce's cliche solution in last para of the article

          At the very least Lowry is going to have to match Wall in points at least if not speed!

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          • #6
            Bendit wrote: View Post
            Ironically, the Wiz got beat on the boards as well in their game...see Pierce's cliche solution in last para of the article

            At the very least Lowry is going to have to match Wall in points at least if not speed!
            if jv and amir play, i want to see a replay of this:

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            • #7
              Like everyone else, sure hoping Amir and JV are healthy for tomorrow's game. Otherwise, we just don't have the bodies to contain Gortat and Nene.

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              • #8
                chico wrote: View Post
                Like everyone else, sure hoping Amir and JV are healthy for tomorrow's game. Otherwise, we just don't have the bodies to contain Gortat and Nene.
                Definitely, we will need Amir's defence tomorrow as well as JV's post presence.

                I hope that T Ross can step up and have a big game tomorrow, both on the defensive end and offensively. Last season he guarded John Wall and did a solid job on him. I think that he will be guarding Pierce tomorrow though.
                I know this may be a bit controversial but I think the Raptors have proven that they're the best team in the NBA from Canada
                -random Facebook user. 2016

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                • #9
                  Raps never win when they wear alternate jerseys (camo and huskies) lol wouldn't be surprised if we lost this game
                  You come at the King, you best not miss.

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                  • #10
                    iblastoff wrote: View Post
                    i wonder if amir and JV get to play this one. if not, we'll probably lose on the boards big time once again.
                    Still not sure how we won last night. I think the Celts outrebounded us by 35? lol
                    Mamba Mentality

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                    • #11
                      27-7 turnovers in favour of Raps....

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                      • #12
                        Hope the Brass Rail is treating the Wizzies well ...and the ladies too.

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                        • #13
                          I dont know how often TRoss went to the basket last night but he tends not to generally. Like 2Pat he should try doing that to get out of his shooting funk. And be more aggressive...he had 1 foul last night. Is he a timid Raptor? Raptors are not allowed to be so. Grrrrr.

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                          • #14
                            YoungGunRaptor wrote: View Post
                            Definitely, we will need Amir's defence tomorrow as well as JV's post presence.

                            I hope that T Ross can step up and have a big game tomorrow, both on the defensive end and offensively. Last season he guarded John Wall and did a solid job on him. I think that he will be guarding Pierce tomorrow though.
                            Dude is like half PP's size! Put JJ on Pierce and let Ross guard Wall.

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                            • #15
                              Bendit wrote: View Post
                              Hope the Brass Rail is treating the Wizzies well ...and the ladies too.
                              I bet Nene entered Brass Rail much the same way he did on draft night. Fast forward to 0:44

                              Give me liberty or give me a bran muffin! - Colin Mochrie

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