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The Wizards will now have to beat the Pacers tomorrow in order to avoid being .500 for the upteenth time this season.
Oh joy.
The Wizards lost to the Suns, 99-93, in their first game back at Verizon Center following a 1-3 road trip out west. They lost despite dramatically outscoring Phoenix in fast break points (25-to-7) and points in the paint (52-to-34). So what gives?
Washington lost this game defensively at the three-point line. Both teams made 37 field goals, but 14 of those were three pointers for the Suns, versus only six for the Wizards. Phoenix shot 50 percent from three, to just 32 percent for Washington.
John Wall did his best to keep the Wizards in it, scoring 29 points and nearly leading the team back from a 25-point deficit. But Wall didn't get much help, and in the end his efforts weren't enough to overcome the combined brilliance of Goran Dragic (25 points, six assists) and Eric Bledsoe (23 points, seven assists).
Washington has now lost four of five, and sits only 1.5 games ahead of the Bobcats for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, which could very well be on the line Monday, when the Wiz play the Cats in Charlotte.
KEY LINKS
Road team recaps: BF StoryStream | Washington Post (gamer, sidebar, JReid column) | CSN Washington (recap, sidebar) | Wiz of Awes | Wizards.com | Monumental Network
Home team recaps: Bright Side of the Sun
Postgame interviews: Randy Wittman | John Wall | Bradley Beal | Eric Bledsoe | Goran Dragic
KEY STATS
14 - Threes made by the Suns, on 50 percent shooting.
6 - Threes made by the Wizards, on 31.6 percent shooting.
TWEETS OF THE NIGHT
"I think he’s like Wolverine. He has a fast recovery." http://t.co/qPutPd6OgI pic.twitter.com/gHxAy4WJiA
— HELLO my name is (@JohnCTownsend) March 26, 2014
Suns locker room, had a list of the Wizards players on their wipe board, from starters to bench. Last on the list, "Potter."
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) March 26, 2014
BAD MOTHER TUCKER hits the three pointer at the buzzer to give the Suns a 25-22 lead after the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/FEesWoAcKx
— BrightSideoftheSun (@BrightSideSun) March 26, 2014
AARP unit is unwilling to guard the 3-point line. I get it, though, it's SO far away. #Wizards
— Conor Dirks (@ConorDDirks) March 26, 2014
"They look like they've read Washington's playbook," says Buckhantz of the Suns. I'd say it's more of a fold-out pamphlet.
— Amin Vafa (@AminNBA) March 27, 2014
Looks like the Wallshington Wallzards will fall just short tonight
— Umair Khan (@UKhanNBA) March 27, 2014
BARELY
— Wizards over .500? (@WizOver500) March 27, 2014
Wittman ain't going for the 'zapped energy' excuses & didn't want media going into locker room giving excuse to players, either. #Wizards
— Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) March 27, 2014
VIDEO/GIF OF THE NIGHT
Sure, Beal missed the shot, by my god, John Wall. (H/T @adammcginnis)
GAMETHREAD COMMENT OF THE NIGHT
Yes, yes we must.
GAMETHREAD ROLLCALL
| # | Commenter | # Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DCrez | 80 |
| 2 | elliotlevy2 | 80 |
| 3 | Wall_Hopeful | 72 |
| 4 | WindyRindy | 59 |
| 5 | HailSkinz | 54 |
| 6 | Yeti60 | 43 |
| 7 | Newjamarcus | 41 |
| 8 | Hands11 | 33 |
| 9 | ryanwadams | 31 |
| 10 | LRJ | 30 |
| 11 | richkam14 | 28 |
| 12 | KurisuDevil | 26 |
| 13 | gregjohnson1229 | 25 |
| 14 | TheBackCourt | 22 |
| 15 | MC-Sneaks | 18 |
| 16 | BealMVP4ever | 17 |
| 17 | NewCavsfan | 15 |
| 18 | Krobify | 12 |
| 19 | DCKRS | 11 |
| 20 | little stevie colter | 11 |
| 21 | Bradley_B3al | 9 |
| 22 | lobster11 | 9 |
| 23 | DCnhokies | 8 |
| 24 | BulletsBaby | 7 |
| 25 | lou.lucas.7 | 7 |
| 26 | tw10 | 7 |
| 27 | novadada | 6 |
| 28 | N4Norman | 6 |
| 29 | obeast | 6 |
| 30 | dc_chilling | 5 |
| 31 | arian1123 | 5 |
| 32 | John Wall Stan | 4 |
| 33 | WizKid27 | 4 |
| 34 | thewiz06 | 4 |
| 35 | Rook6980 | 4 |
| 36 | Knowledge92 | 3 |
| 37 | Free Javaris | 3 |
| 38 | Nubboi | 3 |
| 39 | bartek.biadasiewicz | 2 |
| 40 | KC_Suns_Fan | 2 |
| 41 | Alpha_Snail | 2 |
| 42 | ATrueNigerian | 2 |
| 43 | ThePGPhenomenon | 2 |
| 44 | qthaballa | 1 |
| 45 | MeToo | 1 |
| 46 | t0Shihiro | 1 |
| 47 | Alvin Q | 1 |
| 48 | wuds100 | 1 |
| 49 | rsilbe | 1 |