Clash of the Titans: Wiz beat Thunder

In a matchup of two of the worst teams in the NBA, the Washington Wizards defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Phone Booth 104-95. The Thunder were led by their two DC-area forwards, Kevin Durant [25 points] and Jeff Green [23 points], but received little from the rest of the roster. By contrast, all 10 players of played for the Bullets scored, though the team played without All Star Caron Butler, who sat out with a minor injury that is not expected to keep him from the team’s next game, against Houston. The win for Washington snapped an 8-game losing streak, the team’s longest since 2001.
Antawn Jamison led all scorers with 29 points, and also added 5 rebounds and 3 steals. However, it was the contributions from his supporting cast that put Washington over the top in this game. Andray Blatche played a complete game, scoring 19 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and 3 steals. Point guard Mike James missed 10 of 14 shots [big surprise, eh?], but he did dish 11 assists against only 2 turnovers and outplayed prized rookie Russell Westbrook. Of the starters, only SG Nick Young played poorly, missing 9 of 13 shots and scoring only 9 points in 22 minutes. 
It was Nick Young’s fellow sophomore, Dominic McGuire, who continued to impress me. True, McGuire’s best offensive play — by far — is the slam dunk, but at least he got several slams against the Thunder. McGuire scored a career high 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting and pulled down 8 rebounds and dished 4 dimes in 31 minutes. Offensively, to call Run DMc a work in progress would be putting it mildly. He doesn’t have any kind of shot that he can rely on and he needs a lot of work on finishing near the basket. On the other hand, he is aggressive about throwing the ball down [Blatche could learn from that], so if the kid is near the bucket with the ball in his hands, he’s going to try to dunk. He’s also a very good passer, something that escaped my notice during his rookie season. McGuire knows he is on the floor for defense and rebounding so he doesn’t take a lot of bad shots and committing only 1 turnover in 31 minutes is an indication that his ball security has improved since his rookie season. He’s not spectacular, but his rebounding and defense are good and his offense is less and less of a liability. If Run DMc keeps playing like this, it will be difficult to pull him from the starting lineup. 
The Bullets also got solid contributions from G Juan Dixon, who scored 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench, and Etan Thomas, who grabbed 7 rebounds in 18 minutes. I’d almost forgotten Etan was on the roster, but he showed real fire on the floor, fighting hard for loose balls around the basket. I’m still not a big fan of Etan’s game, but this was a pretty good performance, even if he didn’t shoot well. And since I’ve bashed him so much, let me take the time to praise G Deshawn Stevenson, who came off the bench for 31 minutes to dish 6 assists without a turnover. Not bad. 
Let’s not forget that the Bullets beat a very bad team tonight — a team that appears to have little fire and even less regard for the basketball. Washington took 100 shots compared to only 77 for the Thunder and OKC’s 19 turnovers [only 11 by the Wiz] was a key reason. The Thunder also allowed Washington to notch 31 assists when Mike James is the best thing the Bullets have at point guard. So our home team won a game at home against the worst club in the NBA. Still, when you come into a game having lost 23 of 27 games, any victory is most welcome.
My one complaint: Once again, no burn for Javaris Crittenton, who was a DNP-CD. Come on, Coach Tapscott, get Javaris some time on the court! What have you got to lose? Games? Check the roster and think of a different excuse.
Score: Washington 104 OKC 95
MVP: Andray Blatche [19 points, 15 rebounds, 3 steals]