wiz@nyk

[nate33]

The way I see it this game is a must win. Not so much because there is a sense of urgency to win, but simply because the hard fought road win against the Celtics doesn't mean jack when we can't take advantage of a terrible Knicks team.

Nonsense. It's hard to win games in the NBA.

According to a study performed on the 2005 season, playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back results in the tired team being 3.5 points worse than normal, on average. Teams that are playing their 4th game in 5 nights are 8 points worse than normal. Also, teams playing on the road suffer a 2.65 point disadvantage on average.

Putting it all together, if New York and Washington were equal teams, one could reasonably expect Washington to lose by 11 points. The Wizards need to be 11 point better than New York in order to win this one.

The Sagarin Ratings suggest that the Wizards are roughly 8 points better than New York in the abstract. If I were an impartial gambler, I'd bet against the Wizards here.

[Tiny Too]

I will be there tonight...as someone's guest. We are sitting in the corner of the first row behind the basket (Note: face value of ticket=$400...imagine paying that to see the Knicks every game... )

I think my seat is right in front of the spot where Unseld blocked Bill Bradley's potential game-tying corner jumper in Game 7 of 1971 Eastern Conference Finals. Gus Johnson corralled the rebound as time expired. We won 93-91. GREAT train ride back to Baltimore that night!!

Tonight, I will ask Buck if he wants to go out after the game. I want to see him in action with the tough NY girls. Maybe I could pay him to pimp for me....(Don't tell my wife.)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

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Nonsense. It's hard to win games in the NBA.

According to a study performed on the 2005 season, playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back results in the tired team being 3.5 points worse than normal, on average. Teams that are playing their 4th game in 5 nights are 8 points worse than normal. Also, teams playing on the road suffer a 2.65 point disadvantage on average.

Putting it all together, if New York and Washington were equal teams, one could reasonably expect Washington to lose by 11 points. The Wizards need to be 11 point better than New York in order to win this one.

The Sagarin Ratings suggest that the Wizards are roughly 8 points better than New York in the abstract. If I were an impartial gambler, I'd bet against the Wizards here.

Me, too.

I'd take NYK and the 2.5.

[Donkey McDonkerton]

Mike Greenield says we have a good chance at winning tonight

Date Site Win Probability Margin Opponent
1/15/2008 Away 65.7% +4.0 #27 New York

[TheKingOfVa360]

The guys are still on an emotional high right now so hopefully they don't take this game for granted. The be a top echelon team we have to beat the teams we are suppose to beat and win on the road. This back to back vs the Knicks is huge. They are a talented team and shouldn't be taken for granted.

[nate33]

I don't think Greefield accounts for the affects of back-to-back games.

[MJG]

Some people are definitely overvaluing this game. If we lose, so what? It's our fourth game in five nights, and the previous three have been serious battles. Sure, it'd be disappointing, but neither a shocker nor something that dampens our two Boston wins.

Now, if we lose this one, and then follow it by losing the next one, then maybe our balloon deflates just a little. But not from this one game alone.

[gowiz999]

Some people are definitely overvaluing this game. If we lose, so what? It's our fourth game in five nights, and the previous three have been serious battles. Sure, it'd be disappointing, but neither a shocker nor something that dampens our two Boston wins.

Now, if we lose this one, and then follow it by losing the next one, then maybe our balloon deflates just a little. But not from this one game alone.

Even against the lowly Knicks?

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

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Nonsense. It's hard to win games in the NBA.

According to a study performed on the 2005 season, playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back results in the tired team being 3.5 points worse than normal, on average. Teams that are playing their 4th game in 5 nights are 8 points worse than normal. Also, teams playing on the road suffer a 2.65 point disadvantage on average.

Putting it all together, if New York and Washington were equal teams, one could reasonably expect Washington to lose by 11 points. The Wizards need to be 11 point better than New York in order to win this one.

The Sagarin Ratings suggest that the Wizards are roughly 8 points better than New York in the abstract. If I were an impartial gambler, I'd bet against the Wizards here.

I think this is just about right on. If the Knicks had played last night, I'd feel better about this one, but they didn't.

The wild card will have to be the bench... someone who played few minutes last night will need to step up and score for a stretch. I'm gonna go ahead and pre-cast my POTG vote for N1

[W. Unseld]

Reminder:

If tonight's game is on CSN+. If you're watching on DirecTV, it's Channel 659.

You read my forgetful mind.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WIZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRDS!!!!!

[pineappleheadindc]

This is like a trap game.

As Nate astutely (as usual) point out, teams playing their 4th game in 5 nights are really less effective than usual. Up to 10 points less effective. Moveover, it'll be difficult to sustain our defensive effort because that takes legs. We won't have them.

If we win, it'll be Andray, Nick Young, Roger Mason Jr., maybe Songaila to need to step up. You can usual count on DeShawn for effort, but we shouldn't expect him to shoot the rock well. Haywood will be fine vs Curry. But I don't expect Tough Juice or Antawn to have their legs tonight.

If the Wiz are to win, it'll be close. Too close to trigger the "Fire Isiah" chants.

[MJG]

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Even against the lowly Knicks?

These same lowly Knicks just smashed up Detroit, who by a fun coincidence, were also playing their fourth game in five nights and on the road. Granted, the size of the victory was almost certainly a fluke, the but victory itself wasn't that far-fetched.

I'm not saying we should expect a loss, nor should we sit around in smiles if we do lose. I'm just saying that not winning this game isn't going to spiral the team down a path of disarray.

[closg00]

I think that if EJ tries to beat the Knicks by playing the starters heavy minutes (He will) then we lose - look at what happened to DET. NY has fresh legs amped to be playing the Wiz. A blanced use of the roster might get it done tonight.

[Wizards2Lottery]

were going to smash them to pieces.

[dandridge 10]

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These same lowly Knicks just smashed up Detroit, who by a fun coincidence, were also playing their fourth game in five nights and on the road. Granted, the size of the victory was almost certainly a fluke, the but victory itself wasn't that far-fetched.

I'm not saying we should expect a loss, nor should we sit around in smiles if we do lose. I'm just saying that not winning this game isn't going to spiral the team down a path of disarray.

Given the circumstances, I'd say it would be:

GREAT! if we win the next two games
GOOD if we split the next two
BAD if we lose both.

[Tough Juice]

The Knicks have 10 wins this season. They are horrible. I'll be very disappointed if we lose tonight.

[WadeKnicks2010]

Knicks fan here. Looking forward to a great game, though i hope Boston has softened you up enough over the past few days because you're clearly the better team and Butler and Jamison are going to be the two best players on the floor.

[Rafael122]

It's not OK to lose to the Knicks because we beat Boston twice. The Wizards have a chance to be at 22-16 before the Dallas game on the 21st. A comfortable 6 games over .500 before the inevitable loss to the Mavericks.

We've already let a couple of games slip away (Philadelphia and the Bulls), let's not another 2 slip away.

[80sballboy]

No AD toinght because of a sprained knee? Time for Nick Young to play some quality minutes tonight off the bench.