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So much for all those warm and fuzzy feelings leftover from All Star Weekend.
The Washington Wizards stunk up the Verizon Center against the Toronto Raptors for the second time this season, losing 103-93 in their first game back from the All-Star break. Randy Wittman got himself ejected arguing a call with 4:39 left in the game, at which point Don Newman decided to go small and the Wiz made a mini-run to make the final score closer than the game actually was. Following an All-Star weekend in which the Wizards came away looking as good as anyone, this was a major letdown.
John Wall had an incredible first half, scoring 19 points, but only score three points the rest of the way. Marcin Gortat had a solid game with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting, but the rest of the team provided little. Bradley Beal and Trevor Ariza combined for 15 points on 4-of-18 shooting. Nene chipped in 17 points, but went 1-of-5 from the free throw line, where he is now shooting only 59 percent on the season.
Don't look now, but the Wizards have lost three straight, and five of six. They currently hold the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference and play the fifth-place Atlanta Hawks tonight on the road. Time to get it together.
KEY LINKS
Home team recaps: BF StoryStream | Washington Post (gamer, sidebar, Reid column) | AP | CSN Washington (recap, sidebar) | Truth About It | Wiz of Awes | District Sports Page | Wizards.com | Monumental Network
Road team recaps: Raptors HQ | Toronto Sun | Toronto Star | Hamilton Spectator | Raptors Republic | Raptors 101
Postgame interviews: Randy Wittman | John Wall | Marcin Gortat | Bradley Beal
KEY STATS
58 - Percentage of Toronto's points scored in the paint. The Raptors scored 60 points in the paint against the Wiz.
22 - Combined shooting percentage of Bradley Beal (2-for-10) and Trevor Ariza (2-for-8) against the Raptors.
TWEETS OF THE NIGHT
Dave Chappelle needs to come dressed as Rick James, sit on Randy Wittman's couch & say, "@#$^ your rotation!" Some nights your guys are flat
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) February 19, 2014
#Wizards pic.twitter.com/5mlU5kasok
— Trevor Jackson (@tjackson85) February 19, 2014
#WittmanFace pic.twitter.com/N3UBo8OnPj
— T.J. Doyle (@gheorghetheblog) February 19, 2014
/Don Newman grabs clipboard. RT @MikePradaSBN: OK, just need Ariza to hit 5 threes in two minutes like he did against Houston and we're good
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) February 19, 2014
Dear #Wizards, STOP taking what the defense gives you. START taking exactly what you want. Yours, unfortunately, @JohnCTownsend
— HELLO my name is (@JohnCTownsend) February 19, 2014
VIDEO/GIF OF THE NIGHT
This play pretty much sums up the entire game. (H/T @Truth_About_It)
GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE NIGHT
YYEEEESSSSSSS.
GAMETHREAD ROLLCALL
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wall_Hopeful | 112 |
| 2 | qthaballa | 91 |
| 3 | elliotlevy2 | 61 |
| 4 | FREEOTTO | 57 |
| 5 | HailSkinz | 56 |
| 6 | KINGWIZ86 | 50 |
| 7 | richkam14 | 48 |
| 8 | souldrummer | 46 |
| 9 | ExtraSpecialBitter | 43 |
| 10 | Craig_ | 41 |
| 11 | lobster11 | 34 |
| 12 | Yeti60 | 31 |
| 13 | Hands11 | 31 |
| 14 | little stevie colter | 21 |
| 15 | Baird15 | 20 |
| 16 | DMV Cock | 17 |
| 17 | segrt12 | 14 |
| 18 | WizKid27 | 14 |
| 19 | Hollywood26 | 13 |
| 20 | KurisuDevil | 12 |
| 21 | imperialme | 11 |
| 22 | NewCavsfan | 10 |
| 23 | g_andal16 | 8 |
| 24 | Banode | 7 |
| 25 | WindyRindy | 7 |
| 26 | Nickdoggmoneycash | 7 |
| 27 | LRJ | 6 |
| 28 | jaffejoe | 6 |
| 29 | Rice2012 | 6 |
| 30 | jack.sunderland | 6 |
| 31 | DCrez | 6 |
| 32 | terpsDC | 5 |
| 33 | DCUniverse | 5 |
| 34 | obeast | 4 |
| 35 | ATrueNigerian | 4 |
| 36 | hambonejackson | 4 |
| 37 | jazzy1 | 4 |
| 38 | John Wall Stan | 3 |
| 39 | MeToo | 3 |
| 40 | almacy | 3 |
| 41 | Shark Fin Soup | 3 |
| 42 | Nubboi | 3 |
| 43 | BealMVP4ever | 2 |
| 44 | rotosportsbook | 2 |
| 45 | Shawn-Paul Muth | 2 |
| 46 | Krobify | 2 |
| 47 | rhythmic | 2 |
| 48 | RCpige | 2 |
| 49 | p.robb87 | 1 |
| 50 | oakhillsteeze | 1 |
| 51 | tw10 | 1 |
| 52 | ThePGPhenomenon | 1 |
| 53 | jarem | 1 |
| 54 | CharGrayJ | 1 |
| 55 | thewiz06 | 1 |
| 56 | Rhamm21 | 1 |
| 57 | abdou77 | 1 |
| 58 | Tyler Martin | 1 |
| 59 | DCeee | 1 |
| 60 | ahweinress | 1 |
