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End of the road: Wizards officially eliminated with 112-99 loss at Detroit End of the road: Wizards officially eliminated with 112-99 loss at Detroit
(35 minutes later)
AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — Reggie Jackson sensed the sliver of space, squared up and launched a rainbow inside The Palace of Auburn Hills on Friday night. At the end of its arc, the basketball swished cleanly, sparking a frenzy from the postseason-starved collection of fans. Jackson jogged back, simulating shooting a bow and arrow toward the Detroit Pistons’ bench. It was late in the fourth quarter of the Pistons’ 112-99 victory and the Washington Wizards’ playoff chances were shot down. AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — Reggie Jackson sensed the sliver of space, squared up and launched a rainbow over the Washington Wizards’ defense inside The Palace of Auburn Hills on Friday night. The three-pointer swished through the net at the end of its steep arc, instigating a roar from the postseason-starved collection of fans. Jackson jogged back, taking a second to simulate shooting a bow and arrow toward the Detroit Pistons’ bench.
Detroit’s $80 million point guard had spent the evening capitalizing on John Wall’s absence. While Wall watched from the Wizards’ bench with a sore right knee, Jackson carved Washington’s defense en route to 39 points and a playoff spot for the Pistons. It was late in the fourth quarter of the Pistons’ 112-99 victory and the Wizards’ playoff chances, precipitously dropping in recent days, had finally disintegrated.
The loss dropped the Wizards to 38-41 and mathematically eliminated them from postseason contention. They needed to win their four remaining games and have the Pistons lose their three to clinch a berth for the third straight year. Detroit improved to 43-37 and will appear in the postseason for the first time since 2009. While John Wall, the Wizards’ $80 million point guard, watched from the adjacent bench in a sparkled black hoodie. Jackson, Detroit’s $80 million general, spent the evening exploiting every defender in his path. He routinely carved Washington’s defense en route to 39 points as the Pistons staved off Washington to clinch their first playoff berth since 2009. Washington, bidding for a third straight trip to the playoffs, was mathematically eliminated.
The Pistons jumped out to a 19-point lead in the second quarter with hot shooting, then pushed the margin back to 16 in the third quarter before the Wizards roared back to take their first lead in the fourth quarter. But Jackson and backup center Aron Baynes fueled a 12-3 run to put away Washington. [Five reasons the Wizards’ best-laid plans went awry]
Jackson shot 14 of 20 from the field and added nine assists, while Tobias Harris added 17 points. Markieff Morris, playing against his twin brother, Marcus, for the third time since joining the Wizards, recorded 29 points, his most in a Wizards uniform. Bradley Beal, who assumed some primary ballhandling duties with Wall out, contributed 25  points but had six turnovers. Ramon Sessions, Wall’s replacement in the starting lineup, finished with 12 points and six assists. “We just didn’t have an answer for Reggie Jackson,” Wizards Coach Randy Wittman said.
Wall underwent an MRI exam on his right knee after sitting out Wednesday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets — his first missed game of the season — and the results revealed no tear or sprain. After the Wizards got their team photo Thursday morning at Verizon Center, he went to a doctor and had the knee drained. That remedied the swelling, but the pain remained after treatment all day Thursday and Friday morning before the team rode the bus to Auburn Hills for shoot-around. Elimination games were not uncharted territory for the Wizards. They just didn’t expect to play any in the regular season without their best player. But a season that began with a top-four seed and the franchise’s first Eastern Conference finals berth since 1979 atop the list of objectives was sabotaged by baffling inconsistency and a bevy of perplexing losses. Consequently, the Wizards have spent much of the second half of the season outside the playoff picture, scoreboard-peeking while they squandered opportunities.
With three games remaining, the Wizards, winners of 44 and 46 games the past two seasons, are 38-41 and cannot finish the campaign above .500.
“We had some tough losses,” said Wizards forward Markieff Morris, who was acquired Feb. 18. “It’s tough with the talent and the expectations they had even before I got here. It’s definitely a tough way to end the season. But we have to finish these last games strong and start looking forward.”
[Ernie Grunfeld is under contract for next season. Will he be back?]
The Pistons improved to 43-37 after finishing 32-50 last season and rose to seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the victory. Jackson led the charge Friday, shooting 14 of 20 from the field and adding nine assists. Tobias Harris, a trade-deadline acquisition, contributed 17 points, while all-star Andre Drummond was held to eight points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
Morris, playing against his twin brother, Marcus, for the third time since joining the Wizards, recorded 29 points, his most in a Wizards uniform. Bradley Beal, who assumed some primary ballhandling duties with Wall out, contributed 25 points and had six turnovers. Ramon Sessions, Wall’s replacement in the starting lineup, finished with 12 points and six assists.
Wall underwent an MRI exam on his right knee after sitting out Wednesday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets — the first game he had missed this season — and the results revealed no tear or sprain. After the Wizards had their team photo taken at Verizon Center on Thursday morning, he went to a doctor and the knee was drained. That remedied the swelling, but the pain remained after treatment all day Thursday and Friday morning before the team rode the bus to Auburn Hills for shoot-around.
[Does Chris Paul’s Team USA withdrawal open a spot for John Wall?]
“It took all the fluid out, but it’s just still sore and numb to move,” Wall said after shoot-around Friday morning. “It’s just sore. It’s still sore.”“It took all the fluid out, but it’s just still sore and numb to move,” Wall said after shoot-around Friday morning. “It’s just sore. It’s still sore.”
Wall also said he still doesn’t know how he hurt the knee. He woke up with it swollen Wednesday morning. He recalled his day Tuesday, mystified: practice, shooting workouts, usual maintenance treatment, shower, media availability, home.Wall also said he still doesn’t know how he hurt the knee. He woke up with it swollen Wednesday morning. He recalled his day Tuesday, mystified: practice, shooting workouts, usual maintenance treatment, shower, media availability, home.
“Nothing was wrong,” Wall said.“Nothing was wrong,” Wall said.
Without Wall to deal with, Jackson tormented the Wizards with 14 first-quarter points as Detroit crushed Washington with a barrage of three-pointers. Three-point shooting isn’t the Pistons’ strength. They take plenty of threes — Detroit began the night ranked 11th in attempts in the NBA — but were ranked 23rd in percentage. The Wizards did not succumb without some pugnacity Friday. The Pistons used a three-point barrage — they made nine of their first 11 attempts — to build a 19-point lead in the second quarter, which Washington shrunk to seven at halftime. Detroit again tried to put the Wizards away in the third quarter, widening the gulf back to 16 with 4 minutes 58 seconds remaining in the period on a three-point play by Marcus Morris.
Detroit made its first six three-point attempts and 9 of 11. Jackson’s third pushed the Pistons’ lead to 19 points with 5 minutes 56 seconds remaining in the second period. But when the team cooled from beyond the arc, Detroit’s margin evaporated. The Wizards then closed the period on a 21-5 spurt behind Markieff Morris, who tallied 20 points in the quarter — one fewer than his previous high in a game with Washington — and capped the dominant stretch with a half-court heave at the buzzer that cut Detroit’s lead to 86-84 entering the final frame. It was Washington’s first 20-point quarter since Trevor Ariza recorded 24 points in a period against the Philadelphia 76ers in March 2014.
Three-pointers from Jared Dudley and Beal sparked a 12-3 run that shrunk the deficit to 10 points. The Wizards closed the half with a 6-2 run and trailed by just seven at intermission. Washington later seized its first lead of the game, 87-86, with 10:16 left when Reggie Bullock was called for a technical foul and Beal made the ensuing free throw. The Pistons then climbed back on top before the Wizards opted to employ a popular strategy: intentionally fouling Drummond, a 35.5 percent free throw shooter. The first foul came with 8:55 remaining. Drummond missed both attempts, air balling the second. The display forced Pistons Coach Stan Van Gundy to replace Drummond with backup Aron Baynes.
The Wizards’ surge didn’t carry into the third quarter, as Marcus Morris’s three-point play with 4:58 remaining in the period pushed the lead back to 16. The move paid dividends: Baynes closed the game and scored eight points down the stretch as the Wizards scored just nine points over the final 8:51 with their playoff hopes on the line.
The Wizards closed the period on a 21-5 spurt and did it behind Markieff Morris, who tallied 20 points in the quarter — one fewer than his previous high in a game with Washington — and capped the dominant stretch with a half-court heave at the buzzer that cut Detroit’s lead to 86-84 entering the final frame. It was Washington’s first 20-point quarter since Trevor Ariza recorded 24 points in a period against the Philadelphia 76ers in March 2014. Now the question is whether Wall will play again this season. Wall said he hadn’t thought about being shut down before Friday, but he acknowledged that if Washington were to lose, it would become an option.
Washington seized its first lead of the game, 87-86, with 10:16 left when Reggie Bullock was called for a technical foul and Beal made the ensuing free throw. The Pistons then climbed back on top before the Wizards opted to employ a foul strategy on Andre Drummond, a 35.5 percent free throw shooter. Drummond missed both attempts, air balling the second. The display forced Pistons Coach Stan Van Gundy to replace Drummond, an all-star, with backup Baynes. The move paid dividends: Baynes closed the game and scored eight points down the stretch to help Detroit hold on.
Now the question is whether Wall will play again this season. Wall said he hadn’t thought about being shut down for the remainder of the season before Friday, but he acknowledged that if Washington had lost it would become an option.
“If we lose tonight, there’s probably no point,” Wall said before the game. “I don’t know.”“If we lose tonight, there’s probably no point,” Wall said before the game. “I don’t know.”