[ WE Game Recap ] Wizards at Clippers: Mistake-prone Wizards Doom Themselves

clippers 94 wizards 87
1/19/2013 - Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights


(Photo by Getty Images)

 

In a game infused with mistakes, blown calls and missed opportunities, John Wall’s performance stood out in this one as he finished with 24 points and six dimes in 31 minutes of burn. Wall displayed his speed on several fast break opportunities, earning himself trips to the line often, where he shot 10-14. Wall still displayed some struggle with perimeter shooting, although his form and release seem to have improved. He’s just missing them.
 

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Chris Paul: Paul was his usual self, coming off a 3-game absence with a knee injury. He efficiently facilitated the Clippers attack, finishing with 22 points and 11 assists. The Wizards blew a few opportunities in the final minutes to tie the game and Paul made  them pay for it, once finding Blake Griffin under the basket for a second-chance bucket, and very soon after that he shook John Wall with the help of his forearm and nailed a jumper.

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The Good

In recent history, the Wizards have been prone to tanking ball games as quick as the flick of a light switch. Teams gain a bit of momentum, go on a run or two and the rest is history. The Wizards of present day, or at least of the past few weeks, have shown great resilience and have played well enough during setbacks, killing the opposition’s momentum and not allowing the game to slip away. The Clippers had a few scary runs last night, ones that have left other teams shook, but the Wizards somehow continued to linger.

 

The Bad

As mentioned earlier, this game was just infested with frustration on the Wizards’ part. The refs were of no help, blatantly favoring the stars on the floor and blowing a few absurd whistles on our poor Wiz Kids. The power-flop by Blake (which I’ll get to in the next segment) and the palming violation on Wall in the final minutes highlighted several questionable calls by the refs, but hey, this is the usual unfortunate case when it’s a matchup of worst vs. (almost) first. But I’m not going to be that guy and verbally castrate the zebra’s all day. Let’s face it, the Wizards blew too many opportunities and committed too many mistakes, just enough to seal the loss. It’s easier to handle a defeat when you get flat out beat, but it’s another feeling when you know that certain factors like the failure to box out (22 offensive rebounds allowed), or the failure to shoot a free throw (15-27 from the line) is what doomed your squad. It’s simply inexplicable.

 

The Ugly

Blake Griffin is a sucker. A certified sucker. Let me go on record first and say that this is not the sourness of an emotionally deflated Wizards fan speaking. I have genuinely never been a fan of Blake Griffin. I’ve disliked his character on and off the court. I actually find it terribly odd that the general consensus of the entire world enjoys and favors his so-called funniness in those Kia commercials. I find it forced, bland, and significantly unfunny. Now for those who know me personally will understand that my negative sentiments towards Blake is not due to my own lack of sense of humor. Of my top five movies of all time, two of them are Stepbrothers and Superbad. So no, that’s not the case at all.

Anyway, let’s get back to the segment here and discuss “The Ugly” of last night’s game. And yes it is about Blake Griffin, and no, it's not about his pube-fro. I’m talking about that power-flop he pulled off last night when he was defending Nene. The gif image, provided by TruthAboutIt.net, just shows you how terrible of a guy Blake is.  Yeah, it’s just a bad flop and it shouldn’t define who he is as a human being, but you can damn near make an argument for Griffin being a cheater when he plays basketball. The NBA should investigate Griffin and the Clippers for FlopGate.

But good for you Blake Griffin, keep earning your popularity with your forced humor in KIA commercials and your freakish dunks. Those two advantages are doing you a huge favor in covering your inability to play defense, your failure to establish a respectable post-game, your terrible free throw percentage, your subpar 12-foot jump shot, and your atrocious pube-fro. You are the man, sir.