In a parallel universe somewhere, the Washington Wizards crushed the Golden State Warriors in their eighth game of the season. In our universe, this game never happened because of the NBA lockout. The parallel universe sounds more fun, so let's discuss five topics from this game based on that.
John Wall reminds everyone he's pretty good: Performances like the one you saw (if you stayed up last night) are exactly why John Wall was the top overall pick. Golden State had absolutely no one capable of shutting Wall down in transition, and more importantly, they couldn't stop him in the half-court either. Wall easily could have gone for more than 22 points tonight, but the way he set up the rest of the offense to flourish was something to watch.
Seraphin's breakout performance? Like most other teams in the NBA, the Wizards big men tend to have their best outings against Golden State. Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee have both put together career games against Golden State. Tonight, it was Kevin Seraphin's turn, turning in his first career double-double, going for 15 points and 12 rebounds in 26 minutes. More importantly, he was denying penetration to the lane which made it easier for everyone else to stick with Golden State's perimeter shooters.
Mack shows signs of life: Shelvin Mack has struggled to get much of any playing time this season, but he got some nice run in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter. It's hard to take too much out of his performance, given the Warriors overall struggles and the lack of intensity over those closing minutes, but he certainly appeared more competent running the offense than he has in previous outings. If nothing else, he keeps John Wall and Jordan Crawford fresh for the final game of this Western road trip tomorrow night against Sacramento.
Bad Curry: Last year, the Wizards would have blown an early lead giving up easy threes to Stephen Curry, Reggie Williams and Dorrell Wright. After running out to that 15 point lead at the end of the first quarter, they only allowed four three-pointers for the rest of the game and never really allowed the Warriors to make a game of it. Encouraging stuff.
Hand down, Man down: I'm not trying to wish ill-will on David Lee, but when you hurt your wrist playing for Mark Jackson, the headlines write themselves.