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Is anyone really surprised by what happened last night? The Washington Wizards would have been underdogs if they took on the Indiana Pacers at Verizon Center with a fully healthy roster. Instead, they faced them on at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the Pacers (14-1) are undefeated, and without Bradley Beal -- who remains out with a stress injury to his right fibula -- and Nene, who decided to sit out with a sore Achilles that caused him to miss two games earlier in the season.
The result? A completely predictable 93-73 blowout loss. It would have taken one of those mercurial 40-point games from John Wall to remain competitive in this one, but Wall was only able to muster 18 points on 4-of-14 shooting, as he settled for jumpers all night rather than challenging Roy Hibbert with drives to the hoop. About the only starter who looked any good was Marcin Gortat, who had another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds and also played good individual defense, holding Hibbert to a modest stat line of 13 points and eight rebounds on 4-of-10 shooting.
How bad was the Wizards' offense against the league's best defense? Bad enough that they actually got some (inefficient) scoring from their bench, as seven reserves combined for 26 points on 10-for-26 shooting.
Anywho, no excuses this year, playoffs or bust, yadda yadda rabble rabble. The fact is, without two of their best three players, this is a game the Wiz absolutely should have lost. Take away LeBron James and Dwyane Wade from the Miami Heat, or Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook (speaking of which, omg) from the Oklahoma City Thunder, and they wouldn't stick with the Pacers on the road, either. We could have hoped for a slightly-thinner margin in the final score, but that's about it. #Pray4Nene
KEY LINKS
Road team recaps: BF StoryStream | Washington Post | CSN Washington (recap, morning sidebar) | Wiz of Awes | DC Pro Sports Report | Wizards.com | Monumental Network
Home team recaps: Indy Cornrows | Indianapolis Star (recap, sidebar) | AP
KEY STATS
3 - Wizards with a positive plus/minus against the Pacers: Kevin Seraphin, Chris Singleton and Glen Rice Jr. Pretty much all you need to know, right there.
0 - Points scored by Jan Vesely, who got the start for Nene.
7 - Free throws attempted by the Wizards starters, all by Marcin Gortat.
TWEETS OF THE NIGHT
ERIC MAYNOR IS AT THE FT LINE FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS SEASON
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) November 30, 2013
Maynor missed @TrevorAriza on that FB, gotta c floor point guard, advance it #WizPacers @WashWizards @ChristyWScott51 @DJohnsonWTOP
— Glenn Consor (@GCtalks) November 30, 2013
When Glenn is upset with you, we have a problem.
Titled: "What Are You Doing, Garrett Temple?" https://t.co/EjRxeYYDWN
— Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) November 30, 2013
Summary of the #Wizards game... https://t.co/4GobFWorOt
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) November 30, 2013
There are two people that aren't surprised by a Jordan Crawford triple-double. Me and Jordan Crawford.
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) November 30, 2013
Alright, a Lance Stephenson behind the back pass to CJ Watson for three. You all have my permission to turn off your TV's
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) November 30, 2013
VIDEO/GIF OF THE NIGHT
Sweet Jesus, Lance Stephenson. (H/T @recordsANDradio)
GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE NIGHT
GAMETHREAD ROLLCALL
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig_ | 99 |
| 2 | jarem | 98 |
| 3 | Wall_Hopeful | 83 |
| 4 | RobbieV | 45 |
| 5 | _Chris | 39 |
| 6 | Dan the Bullets Fan | 30 |
| 7 | TerpsAllTheWay | 29 |
| 8 | qthaballa | 28 |
| 9 | Baird15 | 24 |
| 10 | DCeee | 20 |
| 11 | thewiz06 | 16 |
| 12 | ATrueNigerian | 15 |
| 13 | FTT | 14 |
| 14 | Banode | 14 |
| 15 | LRJ | 13 |
| 16 | WizKid27 | 12 |
| 17 | SladeKillah | 11 |
| 18 | Horcasitas4 | 9 |
| 19 | richkam14 | 9 |
| 20 | BackScreenLob | 7 |
| 21 | LeHalfrican | 7 |
| 22 | DCnhokies | 7 |
| 23 | thisishammertime | 6 |
| 24 | WIZ SPURTIN | 5 |
| 25 | Seat pleasant | 5 |
| 26 | abovelegit | 5 |
| 27 | freshcat | 5 |
| 28 | Durant | 4 |
| 29 | N4Norman | 4 |
| 30 | realwillthrill | 4 |
| 31 | Yeti60 | 4 |
| 32 | i.am.mufasa | 4 |
| 33 | David Statman | 3 |
| 34 | pplchamp | 3 |
| 35 | K-Bro | 3 |
| 36 | Big Spoon | 3 |
| 37 | DeadheadSkins | 3 |
| 38 | JimmyWall | 3 |
| 39 | ts35 | 2 |
| 40 | oakhillsteeze | 2 |
| 41 | solo.charles.5 | 2 |
| 42 | tomboardwine | 2 |
| 43 | KurisuDevil | 2 |
| 44 | Akbar264 | 2 |
| 45 | The Dark Side of the Sun | 2 |
| 46 | Chillinois | 1 |
| 47 | satchmore | 1 |
| 48 | rsilbe | 1 |
| 49 | dave21110 | 1 |
| 50 | no more kwame's in dc | 1 |
| 51 | Jaba | 1 |
| 52 | Just_Win_Baby | 1 |
| 53 | WindyRindy | 1 |
| 54 | khrabb | 1 |
| 55 | g zeller | 1 |
| 56 | Rook6980 | 1 |
| 57 | gregjohnson1229 | 1 |
| 58 | PolishHammer | 1 |
| 59 | davcadix26 | 1 |
...
This beatdown is coming….smh!!!!
"Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors."
Ernest Hemingway