Wizards Look to Begin A New Streak

I don't know who kidnapped my Wizards and sent this new team down, but I like it and I don't want them to leave.

Outside of the end of the 3rd quarter and the collapse in the 4th against the Clippers, The Washington Wizards have been doing everything that I've been wanting to see out of this team since the start of the season. John Wall is attacking the basket and cutting down on his turnovers, JaVale McGee is back to his double-double clip, Nick Young is making the outside shots, and most importantly, Kevin Seraphin and Rashard Lewis have found the part of the court that suits them best: The end of the bench right next to the mascot.

I've been using this road trip specifically to see how the Wizards match up against the "semi-elite" teams in the NBA and now I'm extremely confident that this team can go up against any team in this league.

Let's face it, any teams not named Toronto and Charlotte are elite compared to the Wiz Kids. Oh yeah, let's add Oklahoma City to that list as well ;)

Back to business. If you woke up Thursday morning and saw the box score of the Wizards and Clippers game, you'd probably think this was a blow out. An 18 point loss on the road in lob city against the high-flying Clippers who absolutely destroyed the Wizards at Verizon center not too long ago. You were probably expecting to see Mo Evans and Kevin Seraphin have 20 minutes each, John Wall with a low scoring total and assist ratio, and every single negative stat you could think of. You could not be further away from the truth! This was a close game up until the 4th quarter. At the end of the day, The Clippers have more talent and much more depth on their bench and the Wiz Kids showed the fans something they haven't seen a lot of this season: Heart.

With that said, one of the biggest keys to victory for the Wizards tonight is the thing that lead to their collapse on Wednesday night: 2nd Chance points. The Los Angeles Blake Griffin's had a lot of them. Twenty seven to be exact and Utah enters tonight's game 11th in the NBA in PPG scoring at a clip of almost 96 points a game. The young "run and gun" Wizards can't afford to let the Utah Jazz generate any momentum and continue to push the ball up the court much like they've been doing recently. The one thing Utah does not do very well is play defense and that's going to be huge for the Wizards in the transition game.

I've noticed that Washington has been pushing the ball up court very quickly following baskets being made by the opposition, especially on the road when the crowd is not on their side. The quick and fast paced style of basketball is perfect for this team because it utilizes the strengths in their core guys: Speed, hustle, and tenaciousness.  It seemed like every possession after a dunk or a lob in L.A., John Wall relentlessly took the ball up the court in a hurry and, for the most part, either made a basket or drew a foul. The uptempo style of basketball is going to have to be a continued occurrence if the Wizards want to stay competitive in every game from here on out.

The Utah Jazz enter tonight's game desperate for a win. As they sit just one game out of the 8th place Memphis Grizzlies for the final playoff spot in the West, Utah smells blood and might just expect the Wizards to roll over. Let's just hope they've been caught up with the "Lin-sanity" and haven't been watching film on the Wizards recently because they could be in for a huge surprise.

My final prediction: I expect to see a high scoring game out of two teams that love to push the ball. I really look forward to the head-to-head match up between John Wall and Al Jefferson and I expect a fast paced game from start to finish.

Final Score: I predict the Wiz Kids will come out of Salt Lake City with a win behind a great game from John Wall and an even better one from Seraphin and Lewis ON the bench.

Wizards 105 Jazz 100

GO WIZ