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Wizards win a preseason game nobody watched

That, plus thoughts on the Nene and DeJuan Blair suspensions, lead off today's wake-up call.

By Ryan Gracia
Richard Dole-USA TODAY Sports

The Wizards got a strong win against the New Orleans Pelicans last night, just hours after receiving news that Nene and DeJuan Blair (plus Xavier Silas and Daniel Orton) would be suspended for the first regular season game against the Miami Heat on Oct. 29. A victory helped ease the sting, so let's get right to yesterday's action.

1. A win in Jacksonville!

John Wall led the team in turnovers and points, with nine and 14, respectively, but we'll get into that a little later. The Junior Mafia led the team down the stretch in last night's win.

Comcast SportsNet's coverage can be read here.

WizardsXTRA gave a quick, fun interactive in-game Twitter coverage that can be seen here.

And of course, read our recap here.

2. Nene and Blair suspended

The two "Bad Boys" were suspended for the season opener for their actions in Monday's melee against the Chicago Bulls, meaning the team will be short-handed come Oct. 29th regular season opener in Miami.

Paul Pierce and Joakim Noah were each fined $15,000 for their shoving (and poking) match.

Here's one last look at the scuffle in case you missed it somehow:

We covered this incident thoroughly yesterday, so I'll leave you with thoughts on the incident from Miami's perspective. Ira Winderman covers the Heat for the Sun Sentinel.

Well said. From the WIzards' standpoint, there's not much that can be said at this point. No Nene, no Blair for the opener. Warranted or not, this team wanted to be Bad. Now the other players need to pick up the slack for that. Let's move on now.

Winderman also mentioned this in his report:

"The Heat are expected to be at full strength for the opener, although coach Erik Spoelstra has put that somewhat in doubt when offering updates about power forward Josh McRoberts, who had offseason toe surgery."

3. Junior Mafia step up late

Wall led the team with 14 points, but it was Glen Rice Jr. and Otto Porter who came up big in the clutch last night as the bench finished off a close game late. Rice finished with nine points and seven boards, making some huge plays late to extend the lead.

Otto finished with 12 points and five boards in 22 minutes of action. He looked good, according to those who actually saw the game.

Otto even got some love from Wizards radio guys, Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor, after the game.

No word on whether or not he wore his rec-specs last night.

4. Wall has nine turnovers

Nine total turnovers. Seven in the first quarter.

Obviously this isn't ideal. After the game, Wall explained his struggles and why he got careless so often. Against the Bulls he shot poorly and had just one turnover. Last night he shot well but had nine turnovers. He's adjusting. That's what preseason is for. He knows that. Check out his postgame interview with Monumental Network.

To hear Nene's thoughts, click here.

For Bradley Beal's postgame interview, click here.

And to hear Kevin Seraphin, click here.

5. Wall ranked No. 18

Slam released their Top 50 NBA player rankings yesterday. They ranked Wall No. 18, which is better than the No. 31 spot that Sports Illustrated had him. He wasn't happy then, he certainly won't be happy now, either, despite the improved position. Though they did give him quite a bubbly review.

"Imagine if Iverson was also a slam dunk champion who had the best chase-down block abilities of anyone not named LeBron and you get an idea of what exactly John Wall brings to the table."

Click here to read the full review of why Wall was ranked No. 18.