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The Washington Wizards were down 12 points late in the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons, seemingly headed towards a split of their home-and-home series that began Saturday with a dominating 106-82 home win.
Then Randy Wittman emptied his bench, which these days includes Nene and Martell Webster, so it wasn't exactly waving a white flag, but still, Washington's reserves have arguably been the league's worst this season, so it's safe to say that things didn't look good.
And then things got better. Nene made a layup and free throw to end the quarter, and assisted a Webster layup to start the fourth. A couple Kevin Seraphin layups, an Otto Porter jumper, and Webster three later, and in four minutes the Wizards' bench had turned a 12-point deficit into a two-point lead.
John Wall finished the Pistons off with a number of clutch plays, and generally played another excellent game, finishing with a game-high 29 points and seven assists. No other Wizard scored more than 15 points, but Washington did get 35 points from its maligned reserves, including seven from rookie Otto Porter, who made 3-of-4 shots and a couple nice defensive plays with his length.
Oh yeah, and the win got the Wizards back to .500 for the second time this season. Happy New Year everybody!! Stay safe.
KEY LINKS
Road team recaps: BF StoryStream | Washington Post (gamer, sidebar) | AP | CSN Washington | Truth About It | Wiz of Awes | Hoop District | DC Pro Sports Report | Ted's Take | Wizards.com | Monumental Network | Daily Wizdom
Home team recaps: Detroit Bad Boys | Detroit Free Press (gamer, sidebar) | The Detroit News | MLive | Pistons.com
Postgame interviews: Randy Wittman | John Wall | Bradley Beal | Martell Webster | Marcin Gortat | Otto Porter | Trevor Ariza
KEY STATS
0 - Wizards starters with a positive plus/minus against the Pistons.
5 - Wizards reserves with a double-digit plus/minus against the Pistons.
14 - Free throws made by John Wall against the Pistons, on 15 attempts.
TWEETS OF THE NIGHT
It’s basically been Etroit vs. the Wizars tonight. Neither team deserves to have the "D" in their name.
— Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) December 31, 2013
Imagine if Wall didn't have tattoos! #Wizards
— Scott Jackson (@JacksonSports) December 31, 2013
This would've been such a classic Wiz letdown game, which makes the 4th quarter so much more awesome
— Andrew Sharp (@andrewsharp) December 31, 2013
Victory faces. #Wizards pic.twitter.com/q79PinbITE
— Danny (@recordsANDradio) December 31, 2013
#AllWallEverything #BealSoHard #ReallyThough #JohnWallsTheBestPointGuardInTheEast #Wizards #Against #The #World
— Andrew Sharp (@andrewsharp) December 31, 2013
Hey wiz fans!! Great win!! Im sorry i played like s..t:((( i have to be better on the glass!! Im glad other guys stepped in !!!
— Marcin Gortat (@MGortat) December 31, 2013
Wizards have Marcin’d back to .500 and want to keep making a Nename for themselves, but they must keep climbing the Wall to be the real Beal
— Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) December 31, 2013
VIDEO/GIF OF THE NIGHT
Goodness. [H/T @Truth_About_It)
GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE NIGHT
Good to see an old friend again.
GAMETHREAD ROLLCALL
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | jarem | 96 |
| 2 | Wall_Hopeful | 80 |
| 3 | Craig_ | 79 |
| 4 | Baird15 | 65 |
| 5 | DCrez | 63 |
| 6 | qthaballa | 60 |
| 7 | Yeti60 | 55 |
| 8 | souldrummer | 52 |
| 9 | SladeKillah | 46 |
| 10 | Zachary Beard | 32 |
| 11 | WindyRindy | 30 |
| 12 | NewCavsfan | 28 |
| 13 | Banode | 28 |
| 14 | dgackey | 20 |
| 15 | Moonwalk Jenkins | 18 |
| 16 | BayAreaBullet | 17 |
| 17 | 17squall | 16 |
| 18 | neualex308 | 10 |
| 19 | DeadheadSkins | 10 |
| 20 | Perm | 10 |
| 21 | DCeee | 9 |
| 22 | wizardsfan13 | 9 |
| 23 | johnwallposterizes | 8 |
| 24 | wync | 8 |
| 25 | imperialme | 7 |
| 26 | Rook6980 | 7 |
| 27 | W3BST3R | 7 |
| 28 | DCPerspective | 7 |
| 29 | thewiz06 | 7 |
| 30 | BackScreenLob | 6 |
| 31 | Asdesas | 6 |
| 32 | sierradave | 6 |
| 33 | Rhamm21 | 5 |
| 34 | WizKid27 | 5 |
| 35 | HijackedD | 5 |
| 36 | swaggyP | 4 |
| 37 | The Hoops Guru | 4 |
| 38 | Tbonebullets | 4 |
| 39 | ATrueNigerian | 4 |
| 40 | John Wall Stan | 4 |
| 41 | elliotlevy2 | 4 |
| 42 | Big Spoon | 4 |
| 43 | DCSportsAllDay | 4 |
| 44 | denny from yates | 3 |
| 45 | rsilbe | 3 |
| 46 | spanishfalcon | 3 |
| 47 | JDubTrey | 2 |
| 48 | Skitches | 2 |
| 49 | dave21110 | 2 |
| 50 | esc7391 | 1 |
| 51 | TerpsAllTheWay | 1 |
| 52 | KurisuDevil | 1 |
| 53 | MC-Sneaks | 1 |
| 54 | knight13951 | 1 |
| 55 | oakhillsteeze | 1 |
| 56 | wad0cash | 1 |
| 57 | rayallenisaballer | 1 |
