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____________AT________

____38-35 (6th East/2nd Southeast Div)__________________35-38 (7th East/3rd Southeast Div)
_________19-18 road, 27-16 vs East_________________________21-16 home, 22-21 vs East
__________5-5 Last 10, Streak: W2___________________________6-4 Last 10, Streak: L1


And down the stretch they come. Two southeast division rivals, sitting near the bottom of the roster of teams qualifying for the Eastern Conference playoff race, meet up in beautiful North Carolina for a Monday night match-up.

Representing the most powerful city in the world, YOUR Washington Wizards are winners of their last two, including Eastern Conference leading Indiana Pacers. The Wiz currently sit in sixth place in the East and are chasing a hot Brooklyn Nets team, who are 7-3 in their last 10 games, including a Sunday win versus the T-Wolves to notch their 13th straight home victory. Brooklyn currently sits 1.5 games ahead of Washington, up 2 games in the loss column.

After a workman-like win on Saturday night on a slippery-floored Verizon Center against the Atlanta Hawks, the Wizards may find themselves without the services of SF Trevor Ariza. Ariza slid and fell awkwardly and tweaked his groin. Backup SG/SF Martell Webster was also out of the Atlanta game for a while with an undisclosed injury. If both are unable to go (at the time this post is written, there have been no announcements regarding the pair, rookie SF Otto Porter is next on the depth chart at the 3. Though head coach Randy Wittman could opt to go small with a combination of guards Andre Miller and Garrett Temple logging big minutes.

Bobcats PF/C Al Jefferson is on a roll. Averaging a double-double on the season, Jefferson has been a match-up nightmare. PG Kemba Walker is lightning quick and has the ability to be a disruptive force on the defensive end. The match-up between Walker and Wizards PG John Wall promises to be an exciting, high-octane affair.

The Bobcats have a nice starting five. Opponents have been taking advantage of Charlotte's bench. Accordingly, this game may hinge on the efforts of -- among others -- the geriatric bunch of Wizards reserves Miller, SF/PF Al Jefferson, and PF/C Drew Gooden.

Line-Ups


________________________________________
_____________PG John Wall________________________________PG Kemba Walker
_____20.0 ppg (44% fg, 36% 3pt, 80% ft)__________________17.9 ppg (40% fg, 35% 3pt, 83% ft)
_____8.7 apg, 4.1 rpg, 2.0 spg, 0.5 bpg_______.___________5.9 apg, 4.2 rpg, 1.0 spg, 1.0 bpg



________________________________________
_____________SG Bradley Beal_____________________________SG Gerald Henderson
_____16.8 ppg (40% fg, 41% 3pt, 81% ft)__________________14.5 ppg (44% fg, 33% 3pt, 76% ft)
_____3.3 apg, 3.7 rpg, 0.9 spg, 0.2 bpg__________________2.6 apg, 4.1 rpg, 0.7 spg, 0.4 bpg



________________________________________
_____________SF Trevor Ariza___________________________SF Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
_____14.8 ppg (46% fg, 42% 3pt, 79% ft)__________________7.4 ppg (47% fg, 11% 3pt, 62% ft)
_____2.6 apg, 6.4 rpg, 1.7 spg, 0.3 bpg___________________0.8 apg, 5.2 rpg, 0.7 spg, 0.6 bpg



________________________________________
____________PF Trevor Booker_____________________________PF Josh McRoberts
______6.3 ppg (54% fg, 0% 3pt, 57% ft)__________-________8.7 ppg (44% fg, 37% 3pt, 74% ft)
_____5.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.6 bpg__________________4.9 rpg, 4.2 apg, 0.8 spg, 0.6 bpg



________________________________________
_____________C Marcin Gortat________________________________C Al Jefferson
_____12.9 ppg (54% fg, 100% 3pt, 68% ft)_________________21.5 ppg (51% fg, 25% 3pt, 68% ft)
___-__9.4 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.5 spg, 1.5 bpg_________________10.4 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.0 spg, 1.1 bpg


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Can your Washington Wizards keep their modest winning streak going?

Post your thoughts and comments below.

What: Washington Wizards at Charlotte Bobcats
When: 7:00 p.m. EDT
Where: Time Warner Cable Arena -- Charlotte, NC
Radio: WFED-AM, 1500, 106.7 TheFan
TV: CSN, NBATV, NBA League Pass, Quasi-legal internet streams

Let's go Wizards!

7 of their last 9 games are against sub .500 teams. I lost count, but I think the Wiz have lost 10 or 11 games against sub .500 teams. It is absolutely crucial that they win this game. They'd be sitting pretty here with 43 or 44 wins if they had at least split those 10 games, in 3rd place with a 2 game cushion but it is what it is at this point.

Big Al is going to dominate Gortat again.

IDK if you guys have been watching the Cats but last time we played them, one of there fans told me they have won 7 in a row at home. Theyve won more since but also lost a couple. However, I watched one of there games and the atmoshpere was crazy. Like the whole city is loving being in the playoffs. It reminded me of OKC.

All these games will start to have a playoff feel now. Its getting closer and teams are battling for position. This game basically decides whether the Bobcats can get the 6th seed or not so they will want it. Then you have the fact that they just beat us at home and Wall basicaly said that Kemba was just crying for calls out night and the refs were bailing him out so I know they Walker wants to go at him.

Then Wall has been playing at a super high level and is back home. This game will be amped up, physical, a ton of energy, and have that playoff vibe to it. Should be a fun game to watch

Revenge game. I felt like such a fool for thinking the Wiz could shut down Big Al and Kemba Walker. Won't make that same mistake again. Hopefully the Wizards don't either. We're better than the Bobcats. I sincerely believe that. But this game will definitely confirm/debunk my theory.

Last game it felt like Kemba and crew were making crazy shots. I think the cats will cool down tonight and the score will be much closer. Wall and the Wizards know that a win will clinch a playoff spot for them and I'm sure they will be gunning for it. If they don't, I'll be very disappointed and worried about our future in the playoffs. The wiz absolutely have to win games like this.

must win game.

and its more than just a win, its a guaranteed playoff berth. im sure the wiz know that. im sure the bobs know that. this should be a great game.

i wish we had nene, just for this game, put him in to shut down big al.

im hoping out 3pt shooting picks up again this game too.

dangermouse wrote:must win game.

and its more than just a win, its a guaranteed playoff berth. im sure the wiz know that. im sure the bobs know that. this should be a great game.

i wish we had nene, just for this game, put him in to shut down big al.

im hoping out 3pt shooting picks up again this game too.

Agree. Have to win this one to 'seal the deal', and get into playoffs. Also helps to put some distance between us and Charlotte, not to mention keeping up with Brooklyn and Chicago, both of whom won yesterday.

Not really a must win game. We have a 3-game lead on them and play them at home one more time. If we lose this and later win the home game, we would still have a 3-game lead over them. We would just have to outperform them in our remaining 7 games, 5 of which are against bottom-feeder Eastern Conference teams.

This isn't a must win game but it pretty much solidifies the 6th seed for us if we win.

Bring us home pine, 9-0 in the remaining games!

Wall got fined for criticizing the refs after he felt Kemba was getting the benefit of the calls last time around. I look for Wall to go at it and show who's Alpha. Hopefully it doesn't cost us. Ssj 3rd qtr Wall? Seems like Wall scores most his points in the 1st or 3rd

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nate33 wrote:Not really a must win game. We have a 3-game lead on them and play them at home one more time. If we lose this and later win the home game, we would still have a 3-game lead over them. We would just have to outperform them in our remaining 7 games, 5 of which are against bottom-feeder Eastern Conference teams.

Agree that this is not a must win. nate - would you settle for need to win for my above listed reasons?

At this point in the season, with a team 3 games behind us, we need to win a few games. I just don't really think that any particular win is all that much more important than the rest.

I'm not going to get to worried if we lose this game. I think we are sitting pretty given the caliber of opponents we have yet to face. All we really need to do is split the Charlotte series and then not blow it against Milwaukee, Orlando, New York and Boston (twice). That'll get us 6 more wins while forcing at least one more loss on Charlotte. Charlotte would have to run the table in their other 7 remaining games in order to finish ahead of us.

That said, if we beat Charlotte in both games, the math gets much easier. We would lock in 40 wins with 7 other games undetermined (including 5 against EC bottom feeders). Charlotte would be sitting at 35 wins with 7 other games undetermined (6 against EC bottom feeders), and they would lose a tiebreaker with us.

Hopefully Wall has a big game. It's time Booker get benched for Gooden. I rather Kevin S play instead of Booker. Also Beal needs to finally make more shots than he misses.

Winning this game would put is in a good position to make a run at the 4th or 5th seed and create a bigger gap between us and the Bobcats.

TheKingOfVa360 wrote:I rather Kevin S play instead of Booker.

Why? Booker is nothing great, but Seraphin is bad. In my metric, he has more games that rate below zero (15) than he has above average (11). If I take Seraphin's best stretch of the season -- basically from when he breaks out of negative PPA for good (which happened January 11 against Houston) to his most recent game, his PPA is 59. That's above replacement level, but is a) still bad; and b) significantly worse than Booker.

all I care about is if Booker sucks or if Wall is sucking because of Booker. Either way I want Witt to go to the hook quick. He's still too slow at doing it even when he does pull him


btw, Gary Neal is back tonight. He will probably kill us just like Hendo did when he came back last game

And if Booker come out lights out - does Randy still pull him?

Jay Michael's whiny voice makes my blood boil

Rumor is that Nene is traveling to Charlotte with the team. What are the odds he even dresses?