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Wizards beat Knicks with ease before tough stretch

Other than a few flurries here and there, the Wizards had no problems keeping the New York Knicks on the struggle bus as Rasual Butler once again came up big. Today's Wake-Up Call also takes a look at what Bill Walton had to say about John Wall.

By Ryan Gracia Jan 8, 2015, 10:36am EST

1. Wizards ease past New York Knicks, 101-91

The game was never in doubt, despite occasional above-average shot-making by virtually unknown Knickerbocker players. Nene looked like a bull seeing red against Jason Smith and Cole Aldrich as the Wizards did what they needed to do. They even got Drew Gooden, DeJuan Blair, and Garrett Temple some court time in the process.

Also, make sure to give a shout out to Blair for scoring the last bucket of the game as you chow down on your half price Papa Johns pizzas today.

To the recaps!

2. Rasual Butler showing why...

Butler is showing why he deserves to still be in the NBA, deserved to make the Wizards roster, deserves to be taking minutes away from others at his position, deserves to be playing in late-game situations, deserves to have his contract picked up by the Wizards while Glen Rice Jr.'s wasn't. Anything else you'd wish to add to the list? Go ahead and make a note in the comments section.

Any way you look at it, Butler is an important piece to this team and his performance against the Knicks was just another reason why.

3. Paul Pierce got the night off

Pierce is an old man. At a whopping 37 years old (I'm kidding, folks, don't let this be your barometer of old age), he's got a ton of basketball miles worn-and-torn on his achy body. Adding more miles against a sad Knicks squad would do him no good. And with another extremely challenging stretch ahead of this team, it was a smart move to let him take a break last night.

Plus we got to see him rock some awesome old-man glasses, which, in turn, led to some awesome comparisons.

Paul Pierce's glasses are so thick they may be bulletproof pic.twitter.com/FFgSw6GGxM
— Barely In Bounds (@BarelyIn) January 8, 2015

4. Bill Walton likes John Wall, compares team to new technology

Bill Walton is a legend. Some of that stems from what he did as a former NBA player but most of it stems from the outrageous words that come out of his mouth during his post-playing career. But, as a former player, he does have a wealth of basketball knowledge and that knowledge has steered him to the realization that Wall is a tremendous basketball player.

The knowledge:

"With John Wall maturing into one of the most dynamic, vibrant and exciting players in all of basketball, [it's] nothing but a really, really bright future for this Washington Wizards franchise."

The head-scratcher:

"I don’t know about you, but I no longer use a rotary phone," Walton said, as Mitchell tried to keep a straight face. "I try to use all the latest equipment, the latest pieces of technology so that I can become the best that I am, and that’s what’s fantastic about the Washington Wizards. In all the different things they’re doing, the incremental steps along the way as they climb that mountain, they’re using technology, they’re using what they have at their disposal to become the champions. They are not being used by the equipment, by the technology, or by the sport of basketball. This is really a great lesson in life for all of us to learn from."