You'll know I am really pumped for this game.
Nothing would be sweeter then to send Miami into the playoff licking their wounds and with doubt in their minds while also providing the Wizards roster with motivation and a vision of where they can be. Great motivation to lead them through the summer. And a strong finish against playoff teams would also play well for Randy and EG.
I wouldn't be surprised if Randy isn't pitching this as a playoff game because if they sneaked in with the 7 or 8th seed, this is the type of team they would face. So in a sense, this is the first taste of that kind of playoff experience for most of these young players.
They meet Boston in Boston last year 4 games from the season end,
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310408002In this game, Wall and Crawford got their first taste of this experience. They showed up except Wall had 7 turnovers. KS even got some playing time. And except for Mo, the rest of the roster are players that didn't play in that game or were not on the roster.
For me, this is the most interesting game they have played in a long time. MIL is close since they had so much riding on beating the Wizards. Their playoff hopes depended on it, so that was huge. But Miami is clearly a bigger fish. A win tonight could easily put them out of the running for home advantage thoughout the playoff. Clearly something the want.
Randy will be using the New York game as motivation to get them to come out strong. They have to start the game with strong defense and feeding the KS in the post. If they can get that established early with and get Miami to have to adjust, that should keep them in the game through the first quarter. From there, it all depends on rotations and how stupid the refs are tonight. Not holding my breath on the refs but they did alright last game. Crawford finally got to the line.
I hope this is a competitive game. And if it is, I hope they take them out.
Wizards beat playoff teams Chicago, Miami, Orlando and Milwaukee while on 5-2 run to end the season.
That's what I want to read.