| 13 February 2011
A night after everything seemed to go wrong; the Wizards do almost everything right as they snap their 25-game road-losing streak by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 115 to 100. The game that was to be dubbed the "toilet bowl" lost it's initial luster of battle of the historic losing streaks, but for Wizards fans this coveted first was just sweet.
Despite only shooting two free throws for the night, Nick Young scored 31 points on only 21 shots (67 FG%) from the field. Young got on track early scoring 16 points in the first quarter. He was primarily defended by Daniel “Boobie” Gibson (2 pts) during this run; Gibson didn’t play in the second half due to a quadriceps injury.
After the game Comcast Sports Net’s Glenn Consor stated that people should not feel bad for the Cavaliers just because LeBron James chose to leave. That was a little difficult as John Wall, this year’s number one pick, put on a clinic scoring 19 points and dishing out 14 assists for the somber crowd at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Wall’s blazing speed was on display at the end of the first half where with only 4 seconds left, he raced down the floor for an easy lay-up with a whole second left to spare.
Amongst other impressive numbers, a stat that really stood out for Wall and the team were turnovers. The Wizards as a team are the 27th worst team in the NBA with 15.56 turnovers per game. Tonight they only gave up 11 while forcing 17 from Cleveland and scoring 25 points off of those.
Thanks in large part to an efficient game from Andray Blatche (17 pts, 9 rebs and 5 assts) the Wizards were able to dominate scoring in the paint 52-38. With Anderson Varejao out for the season with a torn tendon in his right ankle, Blatche was able to make his presence felt against J.J. Hickson (16 pts) with four offensive rebounds.
JaVale McGee pitched in with 9 points and 5 rebounds. Although his stats aren’t eye popping, he managed to play well defensively by not being lured out of the paint and out of position on his assignments. He still managed to get called for a few goal tends though, a few of which weren’t even close. McGee needs to learn when and when not to go up and swat the ball because he’s made a habit of giving away free points like that.
Starting for the injured Rashard Lewis, Josh Howard scored 16 points including 3 of 6 shooting from beyond the arc in his first game since New Years Eve. Battling soreness and swelling in his surgically repaired knee, Howard provided an excellent boost to the Wizards starting lineup by encouraging them to attack the basket instead of settling for jump shots.
Rookie Trevor Booker came off the bench to grab 8 rebounds and block 2 shots. Booker has made athletic, aerial displays a regular part of his game, and on his only made shot of the night he threw down a monster jam on the Cavaliers’ Jamario Moon (12 pts).
The Cavaliers got starting point-guard Mo Williams back in the starting line-up after was hurt his left hip flexor on January 15th. Williams, who scored 17 points in Cleveland’s streak snapping victory against the Clippers, only managed 10 points against the Wizards. Ramon Sessions (14 pts) got hot in the fourth quarter, helping the Cav’s cut the lead to ten, but that was as close as they got as Washington held off the surge.
In his first game against his former team, Cavaliers forward Antawn Jamison scored 21 points and collected 7 rebounds. Jamison, who was dealt to Cleveland on February 17th of last year, has found himself on yet another terrible team. It’s hard to watch someone who meant so much to the Washington Wizards organization over the last six seasons, struggle on what must be considered the NBA’s worst team. The former all-star and Wizards team captain could become a trade chip for a contending team looking to get over a playoff hump, but it’s doubtful because of the 2-years $28 million dollars remaining on his contract.
After the game, Nick Young spoke about how the previous nights trashing by the San Antonio Spurs helped get the team focused and more motivated for the game tonight.
"After a loss like that last night, we all felt bad," said Young "Coach got on us and said some inspiring things. We all got punked. Tonight we played from the beginning to the end."
The Wizards will travel to the Amway Center to take on Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic next. The Magic trounced the Wizards on February 4th 110-92 and can sweep the Wizards (0-3 vs. ORL this season) with a win on Wednesday.
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