Wizards @ Houston: 2/26/08 8:30 ET

[RickRoll_inDC]

WHO-@
WHEN- Tuesday, February 26, 2008 8:30 ET
WHERE- Toyota Center

TV- NBA League Pass/ Comcast Sprtsnet+
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STARTERS

THE WIZARDS

Antonio Daniels**Deshawn Stevenson***Andray Blatche***Antawn Jamison****Haywood
THE ROCKETS
******
Rafer Alston****Tracy McGrady****Shane Battier****Luis Scola****Yao Ming
Injuries-
WASHINGTON
Caron Butler- hip- out- didn't make trip
Gilbert Arenas- knee - out
Etan Thomas- Heart- out

ROCKETS
[i]Steve Francis- quad- out
KEY MATCHUP

DeShawn Stevenson
vs.

Tracy McGrady
If DeShawn keeps up with TMac, it could get interesting

X-Factor

Brendan Haywood
Haywood will need to contain Yao if we have any real chance in winning.

"Answer me these questions 3"- Old Man from scene 24 (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)


How will the Wiz respond after an amazing win in New Orleans?
Can DeShawn keep up his good play?
Will the Houston winning streak END by 11:15 PM ET?


PREDICTION:
Washington 97
Houston 94

BIG 3
Jamison 34 points 15 rebounds
Blatche 11 points 7 rebounds
Stevenson 24 points 6 rebounds

[Donkey McDonkerton]

Too bad we wont see any of this

Just keep it close and anything can happen.

[A.J.]

good luck guys

[RickRoll_inDC]

i hate to ruin the happy moment from tonight right now, but i would have done this game thread tomorrow, but it wouldn't be up until about 5 minutes before the game....stupid work...who needs it

[miller31time]

Well, we did the impossible once, beating the Celts back to back without Gil.

But this might be asking too much. There's a lot going against us here....

-on the road
-against the hottest team in the NBA
-without Arenas, Butler, Thomas
-in a back to back

But hey, we've said this all before. We've said that the odds are completely against us. And damnit, we overcame.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Perfect time for a streak to end.

I believe the Wizards can take this and that Jamison's got to get hot soon.

[Donkey McDonkerton]

There is a thread on the HOU board talking about Yao's ankle and he may need to sit out a few games. They should give him the night off tomorrow....even it up.

[Texas Longhorns]

Good luck guys, hope for a good game tomorrow.

[A.J.]

There is a thread on the HOU board talking about Yao's ankle and he may need to sit out a few games. They should give him the night off tomorrow....even it up.

dont bet on it, yao should be fine, and he is expected to play tomorrow

[DC_Ballin]

Jamison has got to play well tonight... 3/16 or whatever could have cut it against New Orleans but definitely not tonight against the hottest team in the NBA, the Rockets. If Jamison can actually play like an all-star, and we get guys like Haywood, Mason, Stevenson, and Blatche to step up, we could steal one.

[bubba]

rockets fan here, good luck fellas. blatche is really starting to come around as a very good player. i think all he needed was playing time. looking forward to a good game tonight.

[closg00]

A self-correction is in-store. The Rockets are hot, the Hornets on a three game losing streak.

I am enjoying Young beginning to look comfortable out there doing his fadeaway thing. Mason has played his way into a new contract with us or someone else. But Pech???? He seriously looks like a second rounder who needs to spend time in the D-League.

I am hoping that BTH can slow down Yao just enough, and that AJ & AB get hot tonight.

[W. Unseld]

I didn't realize how freaking tall the Rockets were from 2-5. And they all can shoot and their big men are pretty darn coordinated. I think Blatche has to get the start tonight b/c of Scola.

As for Opech, he didn't do much last night but he had a good game the night before. He's definitely a spot player, I wish his shot would hit like it allegedly does in practice.

[Joel Embust]

I am hoping that BTH can slow down Yao just enough, and that AJ & AB get hot tonight.

Well, in order for AB to get hot, coach needs to run some plays through him instead of ignoring him on the offensive end.

Why is AJ allowed to put up 16 shots when he's only hitting 3 of 'em, and AB gets to loaf around weakside doing nothing.


C'MON AB, FORCE THE ACTION!

[miller31time]

We won't have to worry about Yao, though. Haywood consistently does an excellent job on him (whenever Yao goes off, it's when Wood is on the bench). He forces shots Yao is not accustomed to taking because of his wingspan.

If Yao has a good game, it will be because Haywood either gets into foul trouble or just because Yao has one of those nights where even the toughest of shots seems to fall.

(all in my opinion, of course)

[TheKingOfVa360]

Should be a good game, If Jamison can have a decent shooting night and Haywood can contain Yao we can win.

[nate33]

I really like how we match up with the Rockets. Our best defenders play the same position as their best offensive players. Their weakest defender (Scola) defends our best offensive player.

If we had more firepower I'd actually be pretty confident about our chances. Alas, it's pretty hard to expect a win on the road in a back-to-back against a good team on a 12-0 win streak while we're missing Butler and Arenas. I think we'll play them tough, but realistically, a win is unlikely.

[pineappleheadindc]

.
This is our 4th game in 5 nights. Teams that are playing their 4th in 5 almost never win this last game. Coupled with the fact that Houston is hot and we're coming off of an emotional victory last night, this one could get ugly.

The only way for the Wiz to somehow prevail is to slow the game down, hang in there early on (Pine predicts that Wiz will start very slow and ugly) and keep the game close throughout.

Then hope that we catch fire the last 5 minutes or so (combo of good offense and, more importantly, 5 or 6 consecutive stops) and we hit crucial late game shots and FTs.

I wish we coulda gotten the game in Cleveland vs their 8-man squad. That woulda put us 3-1 in this 4 games in 5 nights stretch.

[pineappleheadindc]

Oh, and don't forget that this is on CSN+.

For you DirecTV guys, that's channel 659.

Pine

[nate33]

.
This is our 4th game in 5 nights. Teams that are playing their 4th in 5 almost never win this last game. Coupled with the fact that Houston is hot and we're coming off of an emotional victory last night, this one could get ugly.

On the bright side, EJ has kept the minutes down for most of our players.

In the past two games, DS averaged 36 minutes, Jamison 35, Haywood 31, Daniels 30, and Blatche 28.