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Balanced Wizards shake off Grizzlies for third straight win, 100-91 Balanced Wizards shake off Grizzlies for third straight win, 100-91
(34 minutes later)
Before his Washington Wizards claimed another victory with a shortage of healthy players at Verizon Center on Wednesday night, Coach Randy Wittman was asked if he could even envision a time when his roster — the one many expected to compete for an Eastern Conference title — would become complete again.Before his Washington Wizards claimed another victory with a shortage of healthy players at Verizon Center on Wednesday night, Coach Randy Wittman was asked if he could even envision a time when his roster — the one many expected to compete for an Eastern Conference title — would become complete again.
“Hopefully, we get there,” Wittman said. “But if we don’t, you got to make do, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”“Hopefully, we get there,” Wittman said. “But if we don’t, you got to make do, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
Making do meant beating the Memphis Grizzlies, 100-91. The win, over a team that crushed the Wizards just nine days earlier, came with only 10 available players, including one (Jarell Eddie) who joined the team Tuesday. The Wizards continued the mission Wednesday, toppling the Memphis Grizzlies, 100-91, for their third straight victory during a difficult stretch of their season. The win, over a team that crushed the Wizards just nine days earlier, came with only 10 available players, including one (Jarell Eddie) who joined the team Tuesday.
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Without Bradley Beal (leg) and Otto Porter Jr. (thigh) — two of their top three scorers — the Wizards (13-14) placed six players score in double figures for their third straight win. They were led by Garrett Temple, who finished with a team-high 20 points for his third straight 20-point effort. John Wall, battling a variety of injuries from bruised ribs to a badly sprained right ankle to a bruised right knee, posted 14 points and 14 assists two days after compiling a career-high 19 assists in Monday’s win over the Sacramento Kings. When the Wizards visited Memphis earlier this month, the Grizzlies drubbed them, 112-95, and Wittman insisted a major reason for the result was that the Grizzlies successfully lulled his team into playing their style. Washington favors racing up and down the floor. Memphis prefers strolling. The Grizzlies’ method prevailed.
Ramon Sessions added 16 points off the bench and Gary Neal, who missed Monday’s contest because of a sore lower back, contributed five points in 16 minutes. Mike Conley topped the Grizzlies (16-15) with 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting, Jeff Green had 19, and Zach Randolph, coming off the bench for the seventh straight game, posted 16 points and five rebounds. All-star center Marc Gasol was limited to 11 points on 3 of 9 shooting. The location change also brought a change of pace. On Wednesday, the Wizards pushed the ball whenever possible and nudged Memphis out of its comfort zone. By the final buzzer, the Wizards (13-14) had placed six players in double figures despite not having two of their top three scorers — Bradley Beal (leg) and Otto Porter Jr. (thigh).
When the Wizards visited Memphis earlier this month, the Grizzlies drubbed them, 112-95, and Wittman insisted a major reason for the result was that the Grizzlies successfully lulled his team into playing their style. Washington favors racing up and down the floor. Memphis prefers strolling. The Grizzlies did what they wanted then. Garrett Temple paced the Wizards with a team-high 20 points and became the first player in NBA history to record three straight 20-point efforts after having none in 250 career games. John Wall, battling a variety of injuries from bruised ribs to a badly sprained right ankle to a bruised right knee, had his second straight poor shooting performance — he posted 14 points on just 5-of-18 shooting — but accumulated 14 assists to four turnovers two days after compiling a career-high 19 assists in Monday’s win over the Sacramento Kings.
“We didn’t get out and run,” Wittman said. Marcin Gortat registered 12 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season, Ramon Sessions added 16 points off the bench and Gary Neal, who missed Monday’s contest because of a sore lower back, returned to contribute five points in 16 minutes.
With the location change, came a pace change. On Wednesday, the Wizards pushed the ball whenever possible and nudged Memphis out of its comfort zone. The Grizzlies’ inability to replicate the three-point barrage also proved detrimental. After shooting 10 of 15 from beyond the arc in the first meeting, Washington, the league’s worst at defending the three-pointer, held them to 3 of 17 from three-point range while the Wizards made 11 of 25 three-point attempts. “I thought our ball movement [was great],” said Wittman, whose team posted 26 assists on 37 field goals. “We moved it. John again doesn’t have to carry the load for us scoring.”
The Grizzlies, the league’s worst three-point shooting team, shot 10 of 15 from beyond the arc in their drubbing of Washington earlier in the month. The Wizards, the league’s worst at defending the three-pointer, held them to 3 of 17 from three-point range Wednesday while they made 11 of 25 three-point attempts. They also outrebounded Memphis, 44-35, and limited Marc Gasol, who tortured them with 24 points in the previous meeting, to 11 points.
Mike Conley topped the Grizzlies (16-15), who fell to 7-2 on the second game of back-to-back sets, with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Georgetown product Jeff Green recorded 19 and Zach Randolph, coming off the bench for the seventh straight game, posted 16 points and five rebounds.
“Everybody competed,” Wall said when asked what the difference was between the two matchups. “I played better. I had more energy. The thing about it was just there, we didn’t have any fight, no effort out there. If you watch the film, that’s probably the worst we played all season.”
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The Grizzlies jumped out to an 8-2 lead through 95 seconds as they made their first four shots from the field. But the firepower was unsustainable. They mustered just 10 points on 5 of 20 shooting the remainder of the quarter. The 18 first-quarter points were the second-fewest an opponent has scored on the Wizards this season. The Grizzlies jumped out to an 8-2 lead through 95 seconds as they made their first four shots from the field, but the firepower was unsustainable. They mustered just 10 points on 5-of-20 shooting the remainder of the quarter as the Wizards upped the intensity. The 18 first-quarter points were the second-fewest an opponent has scored on Washington this season.
Meanwhile, Wall was serving at the Wizards’ offensive spark, constantly applying pressure on the Memphis defense. He had six assists by the end of the first quarter, which concluded with the Wizards leading by seven. The Wizards expanded the gap to 18 less than two minutes into the second quarter as frustration torpedoed the Grizzlies. First, Coach Dave Joerger was assessed a technical foul for boisterous complaints. And before play resumed, Mario Chalmers, who had picked up three personal fouls in five minutes, picked up two quick technical fouls on his way to the bench to earn an ejection.
The Wizards have encountered trouble in recent weeks when Wall rests, but they didn’t cease the assault when he went to the bench near the end of the first period. Instead, they extended their lead to 18 less than two minutes into the second quarter as frustration torpedoed the Grizzlies. Washington’s lead ballooned to 22 points in the third quarter on a Temple step-back three-pointer as the shot clock wound down to complete a 16-2 spree. But the Grizzlies eventually clipped the deficit to eight with 2 minutes 57 seconds remaining, staying within striking distance until Wall’s chasedown block of a Matt Barnes fast-break layup with 1:12 left and Washington nursing its 100-91 edge quashed any chance of a comeback.
First, Coach Dave Joerger was assessed a technical foul for boisterous complaints. And before play resumed, Mario Chalmers, who had picked up three personal fouls in five minutes, picked up two quick technical fouls to earn an ejection. “We’re playing the way we want to play, I’ll say that,” Wittman said. “But as soon as you think you’re somewhere, sometimes you’re not. So it’s one game at a time.”
Memphis recovered to trim the deficit to 59-48 at halftime and to eight points two minutes, four seconds into the second half, but the momentum swing was short-lived. The Wizards countered with an 16-2 spree, capped by Temple’s step-back three-pointer over Green as the shot clock wound down. The sequence elicited an eruption of glee from the Washington bench, forced Joerger to call timeout out of desperation, and pushed the Wizards ahead, 77-55, their largest lead of the evening.
The Grizzlies, however, didn’t relent and cut their deficit to eight points again with 2:57 remains. But Wall’s chasedown block of a Matt Barnes fast-break layup with 1:12 left and Washington nursing a 100-91 lead squashed any chance of a comeback.