In an attempt to provide more frequent updates to this usually (and unfortunately) dormant blog, I thought I would provide a running commentary of tonight's Wizards-Sonics match up in Seattle. (You've gotta love the NBA League Pass. It's simply fantastic. I can watch any game I want any day of the week. I got it ostensibly so I could watch the Wizards. But I've found myself enjoying so many other games throughout the course of the season. I wonder how I ever lived without it.) Refresh your page often because I'll be updating often.9:57 p.m.: The Wizards come into tonight's game against Seattle having lost an ugly game last night to the Portland Trailblazers. I saw no hustle, no heart, no energy, no determination, no awareness. The starters were particularly bad, and as great job Eddie Jordan has done this season, he didn't get his team prepared for last night's game. And he certainly didn't go to his bench early enough in the second half when his starters were flailing away. Anyway, it was plain bad. And it was an important game because it was Washington's first contest on this five-game West Coast swing. They play at Seattle tonight, at Sacramento, at Los Angeles and at Utah. Beating Portland, Seattle and Sacto were imperative because there's virtually no way the Wizards will take down either Utah or L.A.
It's even more important because of the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Right now, the Wizards sit in fifth place, with an opportunity to overtake the overrated Cavaliers, a team that features the overhyped LeTravel James. But three or four loses out West could doom the Wizards and shuffle them down to seventh place, which would yield a first-round series against the Detroit Pistons.
More from LeTravel:
10 p.m.: The Wizards game is about to start, so in the meantime, I'm watching the Heat and Knicks play in overtime. I guess the League Pass isn't always a great thing. Seriously, Miami and New York, the two worst teams in the East -- in the East! -- were a combined 32-108 going into their match up tonight. I guess after this evening's game, they'll be a combined 33-109. Even when one wins, one loses. There's some kind of irony in there somewhere.
10:12 p.m.: Brendan Haywood hits a lay up and draws the foul. He's been playing some inspired ball this year, and perhaps more impressive is his drastically improved free throw shooting. When he gets off to a good start, he changes the dynamic of this Wizards squad. And Haywood with another dunk. He has Washington's first five points so far. (Meanwhile, New York won in overtime. I know you were wondering.)10:16 p.m.: The Sonics take a timeout as Washington goes up 11-4 early. They already look crisper and more focused than they did last night. Is that because of the competition? (I'm also looking forward to seeing Kevin Durant play. The kid's a talent.)
10:20 p.m.: How about all this coverage of the Sonics' potential (and highly likely) move out of Seattle? I can't imagine Seattle without a basketball team. And quite frankly, no matter how impressive the crowds were for the Hornets that last couple of years, I'm not sure Oklahoma City will be able to sustain an NBA franchise as well as Seattle has. That said, the folks in Seattle need to step up and finance a new arena for the Sonics. It's worth it economically. (Oh yeah, and the Wizards are up 21-14 with about five minutes left in the first quarter.)10:31 p.m.: Eddie Jordan goes to his bench early tonight (finally), bringing in Roger Mason and Darius Songaila in the first quarter. Mason replaced DeShawn Stevenson, who had attempted six 3-pointers in nine minutes of action. (He made two.) After one quarter, Washington leads 29-23.
10:41 p.m.: The problem with the Wizards is that they too quickly (and too often) turn into a jump shooting team. When that happens, they lose all offensive flow and slack off on defense. That's what has happened early in this second quarter. They held a six-point lead after one, but now Seattle leads 35-33 four minutes into the second. The Wizards are at their best when they're attacking the basket, but they fall in love with the jump shot instead. That's one reason Washington is one of the better offensive rebounding teams in the league -- they miss a ton of jump shots. Meanwhile, Seattle is also outhustling Washington on the boards. Lack of effort and focus is a major reason the Wizards lost last night.
10:52 p.m.: The Wizards had been playing pretty sound defense lately, but tonight and last night, they've regressed big time. Matadors beware. Your jobs aren't safe. (For a humorous look at all things Wizards/Bullets, check out Wizznutzz. The videos are parodies of the NBA's "Where Amazing Happens" ads.)
11:36 p.m.: The Wizards entered halftime down 56-50. With about two minutes left in the third quarter, they're still trailing. They've opened this half with almost zero intensity and focus. (Are you sensing a theme here?) Example: Sonics forward Nick Collison had 15 rebounds in the first half. Fifteen rebounds is excellent for an entire game, but he recorded 15 rebounds in less than 24 minutes of play.
The Wizards have now nailed a couple of baskets to lessen the deficit to seven points, but they allowed Seattle to go up by as much as 13 points in the third. That's unacceptable. If the loss to Portland didn't knock some sense into them, I don't know what will. But if ever there were a must-win game this late in the season, it's tonight. Philly already beat Chicago, so now the 76ers are tied with the Wizards. If Washington loses, Philly climbs into fifth place and Washington dropts to sixth. (Now the Wizards are losing by nine. They ripped off a 10-0 run to bring the deficit to seven, but they missed a lay up and long jumper with a Seattle made field goal in between to fall back by nine, 75-66, with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.)11:43 p.m.: It's 75-68 entering the fourth quarter. The Wizards defense picked up (only 19 points allowed that frame), but the offense still lagged (just 18 points scored). They're not putting it all together tonight. When their offense is clicking, their defense is falling apart. When their defensive is staunch, their offense is relegated to long jumpers that often fall short. The sad part about this is that after an atrocious 4-10 month of February, the Wizards had started March 8-3 with wins against teams like New Orleans, Detroit and Cleveland. The Wizards must focus because they simply can't afford to finish lower than sixth in the EC. Finish sixth, and they face the Magic. Finish fifth, and they face Cleveland. Both of those are winnable series. Finish seventh, and they face Detroit. While the Wizards have matched up well against the Pistons in the past, they wouldn't be able to beat them in a seven-game series.
11:52 p.m.: The Wizards have clawed back into this one. With a little less than nine minutes left in the game, the Wizards are down 82-80. Why? They've attacked the basket, and they've relied on Mason to knock down some 3's. A 12-7 run to open the fourth quarter helps, too.
11:55 p.m.: The Wizards take the lead 85-84 at the 7:42 mark of the fourth quarter. It's their first lead since the second quarter. And a Songaila basket at 7:17 makes it 87-84 Wizards. The Wizards are on a 31-11 run that's spanned the third and fourth quarters.
Midnight: The Wizards are up 92-89 with 5:29 left in the fourth. Seattle is being torched by the hard-cutting Songaila and sharp shooting Mason. Mason nailed a 3 from five feet behind the 3-point line at the top of the key. Durant followed with a 3-pointer from the wing to pull the Sonics to within three of the Wizards. Now, Washington is finally running its offense. Good ball movement up top, strong cutting through the lane, great off-ball action. It's all translating to Mason 3's or Songaila layups. (I forgot to mention that I was also looking forward to seeing Georgetown product Jeff Green get some run tonight. We all know Durant will be a great player for the Sonics. But Green has the potential to be Durant's Scottie Pippen. Those two will run this Sonics franchise for years to come.)
12:07 a.m.: Seattle calls a 20-second timeout because Washington has taken a 99-91 lead with 2:54 remaining after a Jamison layup (assisted by Mason). Roger has scored 22 points, and Songaila has added 10. Those are 32 huge points off the bench for Washington, and it's why they've been able to take over this game. After the timeout, Eddie Jordan replaces Mason with Stevenson for defensive purposes. I don't like this substitution because Mason is a decent on-ball defender, and Stevenson certainly isn't going to shoot as well as Mason. So far, no problems because Caron Butler hit a layup to put Washington up 101-92.12:15 a.m.: The Wizards use a strong second half, in which they only allow the Sonics to score 43 points, to close out a lesser Sonics team 104-99 and get their first win on this five-game WC swing. The Wizards were down 73-56 after Francisco Elson hit a 5-footer at the 4:16 mark of the third quarter. But after that basket, Washington outscored Seattle 48-26. You can check out the boxscore, but some important stats and notes from tonight's game:
- Because of Philly's win early tonght, this was an important W for Washington. They kept the 76ers in the sixth spot for at least one more evening. It also means the Wizards picked up a game on the Cavs because Cleveland lost to New Orleans tonight.
- It was vital for the Wizards to respond after last night's poor showing in Portland. They did what they had to do tonight to beat Seattle. It's good momentum going into Friday night's game against Sacramento and beyond.
- Jordan trusted his bench more tonight than last night, and it paid off for him. He played Mason and Songaila for some extended time tonight in the second half, and they rewarded him. Mason dropped 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting (6-of-9 from 3-point range). Mason was great curling off screens and dribbling around screens to find his shot. Songaila scored 10 points on four field goals, but more importantly, he was active, as usual, playing great position defense, extending guards while defending the pick-and-roll and slashing to the basket for layups.
- Durant scored 32 points and show 13-for-22 from the field. For a guy who's struggled with his field goal percentage most of the season, he shot lights out tonight.
- The Sonics outrebounded yet another team tonight. They grabbed 49 boards to Washington's 34. Speaking of rebounds ...
- Jamison put together another ho-hum double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
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