Jordan Crawford will not start due to a 'rules violation'

WASHINGTON -- Jordan Crawford will come off the bench for the Washington Wizards in their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers due to a "rules violation," coach Randy Wittman said before the game. Wittman did not specify the nature of the violation, but Crawford is expected to play.

UPDATE: Michael Lee reports that the violation is due to being late to the morning shootaround.

Crawford had started 12 of the Wizards' 25 games this season. Shelvin Mack, in his first game back since being re-signed earlier this week, will take Crawford's place.

Wittman was asked whether Crawford was best suited to a sixth-man role anyway, and he said yes, in an ideal situation of course.

"I do think that's a strong point of his because of his aggressive nature. In the real scheme of things, that's how you'd like to us him. But we've got a lot of injuries, so we've had to use him in a lot of different roles," Wittman said.