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Riding a three-game losing streak and badly in need of a win entering last night's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Washington Wizards were rendered mere spectators to a six-foot buzz saw named Chris Paul in a 113-97 blowout loss.
The NBA's best point guard was masterful, scoring 38 points on 14 shots (11-of-14 shooting, 5-of-7 from three, 11-for-11 on free throws) and dishing out 12 assists for good measure. John Wall wasn't bad himself, recording 24 points and 12 assists on 10-of-16 shooting, but he got a glimpse of just how far he has to go to reach his self-professed goal of becoming the best player at his position.
This one was never in doubt, with Paul at the top of his game leading a team determined to snap a recent slide of its own, and Wall haplessly trying to make something out of teammates that seemed shell shocked from Friday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
For once, the Wizards' bench wasn't the problem. While L.A.'s reserves weren't needed and scored only 11 points, Washington's bench scored 32 points on 14-of-25 shooting. Unfortunately, that couldn't make up for stinkers from Marcin Gortat and Trevor Ariza (both shot 3-for-10), or a still-hobbled Martell Webster (12 points). Trevor Booker gave another valiant effort (12 points and seven rebounds), but it wasn't enough to match Blake Griffin (16 points, nine rebounds) and DeAndre Jordan (15 points, 10 rebounds) down low.
KEY LINKS
Home team recaps: BF StoryStream | Washington Post | AP | CSN Washington (recap, Gortat sidebar) | Wiz of Awes | District Sports Page | Wizards.com | Monumental Network
Road team recaps: Clips Nation | LA Times (gamer, sidebar) | Clipper Blog | ESPN LA
Postgame interviews: Randy Wittman | Trevor Booker | Marcin Gortat | Trevor Ariza
KEY STATS
1.008 - Paul's True Shooting Percentage against the Wizards. Sweet Jesus Point God.
TWEETS OF THE NIGHT
Clippers = Team USA. Wizards = Cuba
— dc_fusion (@dc_fusion) December 15, 2013
What #Wizards defense looks like to Chris Paul right now... #wizclips @BulletsForever pic.twitter.com/XCfMtFdmgG
— Jonathan S (@JS889208) December 15, 2013
Chris Paul is showing John Wall tonight that Wall, in fact, is not the best point guard in the league.
— Jim Park (@SheridanBlog) December 15, 2013
Marcin Gortat on LAC: "That was the first game where we really, truly, had no chance to win the game. They were just way better." #wizards
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) December 15, 2013
Wizards are 3-24 in games that Nene doesn't play since start of last season, OUCH, 0-6 this season
— Adam McGinnis (@adammcginnis) December 15, 2013
VIDEO/GIF OF THE NIGHT
Hard to pick between Paul's magnificence...
And Griffin literally dunking atop Webster's head.
GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE NIGHT
A sampling:
Pretty much.
GAMETHREAD ROLLCALL
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wall_Hopeful | 73 |
| 2 | neualex308 | 51 |
| 3 | qthaballa | 47 |
| 4 | JimmyWall | 27 |
| 5 | Durant | 20 |
| 6 | _Chris | 17 |
| 7 | Banode | 16 |
| 8 | LRJ | 15 |
| 9 | Big Purp | 13 |
| 10 | DCnhokies | 9 |
| 11 | Rice2012 | 9 |
| 12 | John Wall Stan | 8 |
| 13 | WindyRindy | 7 |
| 14 | johnwallposterizes | 7 |
| 15 | HijackedD | 7 |
| 16 | thewiz06 | 6 |
| 17 | dave21110 | 5 |
| 18 | 082288 | 4 |
| 19 | oakhillsteeze | 4 |
| 20 | BackScreenLob | 3 |
| 21 | denny from yates | 3 |
| 22 | ATrueNigerian | 3 |
| 23 | Mandark | 2 |
| 24 | PAClark11 | 2 |
| 25 | mrudolph30 | 2 |
| 26 | KurisuDevil | 2 |
| 27 | twistyroad | 2 |
| 28 | BJKapp | 1 |
| 29 | RobbieV | 1 |
| 30 | 17squall | 1 |
| 31 | WAAAAALL-E | 1 |
| 32 | K-Bro | 1 |
| 33 | nichobert | 1 |
