WE Recap: Wizards vs. Pistons 3/26/12

Wizards vs Pistons, March 26, 2012 – Verizon Center

	1	2	3	4	FINAL
Pistons	16	14	23	26	79
Wizards	14	21	17	15	77

TOP PERFORMERS
Wizards			Pistons
Jordan Crawford	PTS	20	Rodney Stuckey	PTS	24
Nene	REB	9	Greg Monroe	REB	10
John Wall	AST	9	Brandon Knight	AST	7
Jordan Crawford	STL	2	Brandon Knight	STL	3
Seraphin/Wall/Vesely	BLK	3	5 tied	BLK	1
Kevin Seraphin	TO	4	Greg Monroe	TO	5
Jordan Crawford	+/-	+4	Ben Wallace	+/-	+6

Wizards Player of the Game

While Nene (8 pts, 9 rebs) had a pretty quiet night sitting the better part of both the third and fourth quarters, two huge plays in crunch time at the end of the fourth quarter make him the player of the game. After Rodney Stuckey sunk a three late in the fourth to give the Pistons their first lead since early in the second quarter, Nene sunk a hook shot from seven feet to put the Wiz back up. Then, with five seconds left in the game (and the Wizards down by two), Nene sunk another hook shot to tie the game up again.

So while the Wizards could not close the game out tonight, Nene showed that he has what it takes to be and can be relied on as a closer for this team; and that’s something all Wizards fans have been waiting for.

WE’s to Watch/WE Spotlight

Jordan Crawford registered his sixth straight game with at least 20 points as he went 9/16 from the field for 20 points. He managed to rack up some five assists and was also pesky on the defensive end as he lead the team with three steals. He’s beginning to become much more consistent with his game, but as Saam pointed out to me during the game, the Wizards are still 1-5 during Crawfords six-game streak.

Ben Gordon was essentially a non-factor in this game with Rodney Stuckey back in the line-up for the Pistons. With only six minutes of play, he managed three rebounds, one assist and went 0/4 shooting.

The Good

The third quarter. The Wizards have struggled in the third quarter, recently; but tonight they proved to be a much better team than the team that was out during the first half. They came out with guns blazing with an 8-0 run to start the quarter off. After a slow offensive 24 minutes before, the Wizards managed to get 21 points in just seven minutes. They continued to stay strong and hold off some of the Detroit runs during the quarter to remain up by eight at the end of the third.

The Bad

The first half. The Wizards managed to only shoot a dismal 35.7 percent from the field for only 35 points in the first half. Nearly everyone was getting good looks, but no one was making their shots. Thankfully for the Wizards, the Pistons shot an even worse 29.7 percent from the field and only racked up 30 points in the half.

The Ugly

The fourth quarter. It was all too familiar. With a lead of 8 points at the beginning of the quarter, the Wizards saw it begin to slowly dwindle down until it was tied, and then eventually when Rodney Stuckey ended the Wizards’ hopes with a 20 foot jumper to seal their fate. The Wizards just could not find any answers offensively as they went 5/16 in the quarter for a horrendous 31 percent. The most ugly part about it? This is their third game in four games that they’ve given up a sizeable lead in the fourth.

Post-game Interviews