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WASHINGTON -- The Wizards didn't need another reality check to remind them how bad things have gotten in 2012, but the Spurs gave them one anyway. San Antonio was coming off a double overtime win in Toronto Sunday afternoon, and many figured that the Spurs would rest Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. They didn't, and instead of sleepwalking through a game that would've been easy to sleepwalk through, the Spurs unleashed a beating. First with their starters in the second and third quarters, then with their reserves in the fourth.
Remember all the talk in the offseason about culture matters, and vague concepts like professionalism can be the difference between a winning team and a losing team? Well the Spurs are what that looks like. And the Wizards? They are still the losing team.
As Randy Wittman said afterward, "They carved us up pretty good."
Monday night dropped the Wizards to 0-12 for the year, and with the next three games against the Blazers, Heat, and Knicks, things won't get any easier in the immediate future. On the bright side, John Wall was seen dribbling on a basketball court about an hour before tonight's game, and Nene is still day-to-day and could play Wednesday. So maybe there's hope!
Other bright spots: A.J. Price looked solid for much of the first half, Martell Webster hit a few jumpers to keep the game close early on and finished with 16 points, and Kevin Seraphin put up numbers throughout (18 points and 7 rebounds). Jordan Crawford didn't start tonight, but finished with 19 off the bench. But it wasn't enough, and it actually wasn't even close to being enough.
For San Antonio, Tiago Splitter nearly had a triple double, (15, 12, and 7), which is notable because Tiago Splitter almost had a triple double against this team. Tony Parker did plenty of Tony Parker things through the first three quarters and he finished with 15 points, and Tim Duncan added 14 points on 7 of 11 shooting in 23 minutes. As a team, the Spurs shot 57 percent from three.
Anyway, the Wizards were outclassed. You know this, and I guess it's okay. Nobody had any illusions about this team matching up with the Spurs. But after 11 losses and on a night where Verizon Center was full of Spurs fans, a 26-point blowout (somehow) just twisted the knife a little deeper.
Alright, now some important questions:
- Why do the Spurs make this look so easy?
- Why do the Wizards make this look so hard?
- Can we make Sam Cassell a player coach?
- What would Gregg Popovich think of Jordan Crawford? Can this be a reality show?
- How many times have you checked NBADraft.net so far this season?
- Should David Stern step in and force Emeka Okafor and Kevin Seraphin to switch salaries?
- Why isn't Chris Singleton playing 30 minutes-a-game? Let him foul out if he has to.
- Did everyone else notice Matt Bonner wears New Balance basketball shoes? Because that is AMAZING.
- Where are we on the emotion spectrum? Apathy? Anger? Sadness? Dementia?
That's it for tonight. Comment/vent below, and we'll have more in the morning.