Wizards at Blazers. 10pm tonight!

[DCsportsallday]

Wall was horrendous. But with the way he's been playing since he's come back, I'm fine with a dud here and there. Can't believe the team pulled out a win with both Wall and Beal stinking it up.

Speaks to the newfound confidence and character of the team I think.

[queridiculo]

The Wizards medical staff and Howard's max contract, a match made in heaven.

[AFM]

How about the Wizards' medical staff and Crawford's humongous balls? Those must be inflamed, give that dude an advil baby!!

[truwizfan4evr]

Beal worry about his starting spot?

[nuposse04]

Beal worry about his starting spot?

absolutely not. Its a non issue. The rook is allowed a bad night or two. Wes Matthews is one of the better defenders on the wing that the NBA has to offer. Beal could just never get in a rhythm. Teams are definitely going to pay more attention to him so other players will need to come up big.

[B-easy]

Surprised by they win , despite wall and beal playing horribly.

[fishercob]

Nice win and all but I'm worried that Crawford is going to get Wall hurt or killed. John was clearly shaving points last night and JC just had to go screw the whole thing up. There are going to be some mean dudes that want to have a little talk with John.

[MikeTheKid]

I got the flu in the last couple days so I went to bed early but I wake up to check the game thread and see that Big Balls made a buzzer beater.

No more "Good job Good effort" Sip the Kool-AId

[MikeTheKid]

Oh and just to add it looked like Beal said a prayer because he jumped into the pile smiling a few seconds after everyone jumped in.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

So beal can't have a cool cat look on the sidelines or take in the moment at the exact time J-Craw made the winning shot? He certainly ran right into the midst of celebration with the rest of his teammates in the immediate aftermath. I just dont see the internal strife or personal animosity some of you guys are trying to see from a single snapshot.

I think Beal is too mature a person to hate on another person's accomplishments. However, I did notice that too after the hundredth replay of the players reaction following the shot. Beal's been the starter all season even at a time when to some it didn't seem to make sense, so I don't know why he'd be worried about his status being in jeopardy. He had a bad game and didn't see much if any of the 4th qtr so I could imagine he wouldn't be too happy. Maybe it was just a really honest reaction, Beal has never come across as a less than genuine person so maybe his immediate non-reaction to the shot was just a part of that. No reason to believe that his job is being threatened or that he has it in him to be less than a team player.

[tontoz]

I don't like Wall running iso's at the end of quarters, especially at the end of games. He can't shoot so the defense knows to clog the lane. That behind the back crap was a joke.

Monster game by Webster, 24 points on 11 attempts. Wow

[dobrojim]

I tend to agree but would point out that THIS year, Wall has already
made a couple of end-of-quarter shots so I'm willing to keep it
in context that he failed this one time. Same thing for his D.
He had gotten burned but still pulled off a huge steal which
should have put the game away.

Martell is THE MAN. He's been ballin his @ss off.

[tontoz]

Beal looks at the sky, points and says whatever every time he makes a shot. He was probably doing something similar as soon as Crawford shot went in which may be why he didn't start celebrating right away.

[sfam]

Wow, I'm traveling so I missed the game, but saw the last second highlight. In looking at the box score, I'm amazed we won with Wall and Beal blowing big chunks. Was Beal's wrist from the fall bothering him? Hopefully this is a short term blip for both of them. Considering how the season started, its amazing the Wizards now have the confidence to win a game like this.

[fishercob]

A few more quick thoughts:

I am reminded of the Zach Lowe piece about how having good players matters that someone pasted a few days ago and nate's post that I repasted in the "culture change" thread about liking the construction of the roster. Nene has been struggling/laboring of late, but the Wiz have been winning because our young backcourt has been playing great. Last night the backcourt struggled mightily, but Nene and Webster came up huge. Basically with our full complement of guys, there is a decent chance that someone is going to have it going offensively among Wall, Beal, Crawford, Nene, Seraphin, Webster, etc. And good for Wittman for riding the hot hand. With a healthy roster, we actually have some margin for error.

There's a lot to like about Portland's squad. Some of their fans on the trade board are talking about trading Aldridge. I wouldn't even consider that; they're just too shallow. They need another 3 good roation players so they're overplaying their studs and/or losing leads on account of ROnnie Price, Claver, Babbit . They have cap room this summer (though they have to re-up HIckson), but I'd want them to continue to build on what they have. Meyers Leonard may prove to be really good, but he's a couple years away. He still looks like a kid. I'd consider trading him for some more "now" pieces like Gortat or Varajeo. Batum and Aldridge are fantastic.