Wizards hand out gifts, but hope good health is left under their tree
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Version 0 of 1. Members of the Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics organizations spent part of their Tuesday afternoon handing out Christmas gifts to children across the District. Four Wizards players — Garrett Temple, Jared Dudley, Otto Porter Jr. and Bradley Beal — were among those in attendance, less than a day removed from Monday night’s victory over the Sacramento Kings at Verizon Center . Of the four, only Temple and Dudley participated in the win. Porter and Beal, two of the team’s three top scorers, were spectators, again members of the NBA’s longest injury list, a six-man group that could compete in the Eastern Conference on its own. Gary Neal (back), Nene (calf), Alan Anderson (ankle), and Drew Gooden III (calf) joined Porter (thigh) and Beal on the sideline. In a Wizards season defined by injuries, Monday was new territory: Just four perimeter players were available, and nine players overall. And that includes John Wall, who is dealing with an assortment of injuries — including the addition of bruised ribs Monday as he registered a career-high 19 assists. [Posting Up: NBA chat with Tim Bontemps transcript] While the Wizards still prevailed, to post their first winning streak in a month, they know that if the burden placed on the remaining players continues, they’ll pay a tax sooner or later. A hobbled Wall ranks third in the NBA in total distance traveled (30.4 miles) and minutes played per game (37.9) since Dec. 1. Over the past two games, Temple averaged 38.6 minutes and Dudley, five months removed from back surgery, has averaged 41.5. The effects have been felt. “As a team, guys are tired,” Ramon Sessions, one of the four healthy perimeter players Monday, said after logging 31 minutes off the bench. “We have eight or nine guys total. The schedule’s been kind of working for us this week. We’re happy to get days off here and there, being at home. But guys are tired. I’d be sitting here not being honest if I didn’t say some guys are tired.” The arrival of reinforcements in time for Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Verizon is uncertain. Neal’s status is unknown, and Porter said Tuesday he wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to play. The 22-year-old forward said he hadn’t done any basketball activities since being shut down with a bruised left thigh during last Wednesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Porter said he suffered the injury when Dwight Howard collided with him in Washington’s loss to the Houston Rockets on Dec. 9. “It’s something that will go day by day. We’re trying to treat it as fast as we can,” Porter said. [John Wall’s career night ends with an injury] Beal has missed the past five games with a stress reaction in his lower right fibula — his fourth stress injury to the bone in his four NBA seasons — and said Tuesday that he will be evaluated Saturday, which correlates with the timetable the Wizards announced. The Wizards’ second-leading scorer, Beal said the pain has diminished but hasn’t completely disappeared. He said he will wait until it’s “1,000 percent gone” before playing, which he indicated could be as early as next week. He has missed approximately three weeks due to similar injuries each of the past two seasons. Whenever the 22-year-old guard does return, he’ll be placed on a minutes restriction. “I’m hoping [to play next week],” Beal said. “But I’m not going to rush it by no means. Hopefully I’ll be good to go, though.” In hopes of alleviating some of the strain on the perimeter players, Washington waived center Ryan Hollins and signed Jarell Eddie, a 24-year-old forward out of Virginia Tech, to a non-guaranteed contract Tuesday. Eddie is a 6-foot-7 sharpshooter who connected on 52.5 percent of his three-pointers in 11 games with the D-League’s Austin Spurs. [Rookie Kelly Oubre Jr. learning on the fly] The transaction provides some sorely needed depth, but the Wizards will likely continue to rely on the likes of Temple, who recorded a career high in points the past two games; Sessions, who is averaging 12.5 points over the past 10 games; and Dudley, who is averaging 12.2 points over the past five contests, to hold the fort. “We’ve been winning with less guys, so maybe we need to stick with the plan,” Beal said with a laugh. “We’re all trying to get back, but the crazy thing is we’re all probably going to get back at the same time, which is going to be even better for us. But hopefully we can just figure it out and get healthy as fast as we can.” |