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Merry Christmas everyone! Let's get to our top stories of the week. Fortunately, the stories are better than those from last Friday.
Wizards win three games in a row at home
Despite the injury bug, the Wizards have won three games in a row. They're looking as good as they have been all season.
Last Saturday, they defeated the Hornets 109-101. Then on Monday, they defeated the Kings, 113-99 with John Wall dishing a career-high 19 assists. Finally on Wednesday, the Wizards held on to defeat the Grizzlies 100-91. All three wins got the D.C. area plenty of half price pizza at Papa John's, just in time for those holiday parties.
The Wizards still remain in last place of the NBA's Southeast Division despite the three-game win streak. However, they are just 2.5 games out of eighth place in the East and three games behind the fifth-seeded Orlando Magic.
John Wall continues his December to Remember
We've written a good number of player features in the last seven days. First, we wrote plenty on John Wall.
The man continues to play at a high level, whether as a scorer against the Hornets last Saturday or as a passer against the Kings. I was nit-picky, but Wall should have had at least 20 assists if wasn't for plays like these (SORRY MARCIN!):
John Wall pulls off the Bria Hartley dribble but Gortat fails to deliver... :( https://t.co/UoRIJHByvd
— Albert L. (@aleeinthedmv) December 22, 2015
Stop being fancy Gortat! That would've been assist 20! https://t.co/tN8T97vVTZ
— Albert L. (@aleeinthedmv) December 22, 2015
and perhaps more than that. Finally, Wall took a picture with his college buddy DeMarcus cousins and former Wizard star Caron Butler that had us swooning:
Finally, Wall continued his strong performance on Wednesday's Grizzlies game with this clutch block.
John Wall https://t.co/UkH2w4I227
— Umair Khan (@UKhanNBA) December 24, 2015
If you like getting into the X's and O's to better explain why Wall is performing at a high level -- and making opposing teams eat crow at their previous scouting reports -- Umair has a piece on how the Wizards are adding some more twists into their gameplan.
Garrett Temple, #NBAVOTE
Temple has started five of the Wizards' last six games, all of which Bradley Beal missed due to the stress reaction in his lower right fibula. Over the last three games, Temple averaged 21.3 points a game which makes him a solid fantasy basketball option in one-day leagues.
Mike Sykes also had a chance to speak with Temple after his 20 point performance on Wednesday vs. the Grizzlies. Even though Beal will almost definitely come back as a starter when he returns, Mike noted that Temple has a +16 net rating as a starter.
How are YOU doing Kelly Oubre?
The rookie small forward started for the first time last Saturday against the Hornets when Otto Porter sat out due to a thigh injury, and he has yet to return. Oubre has averaged 9.3 points a game and made all six of his three-point shots in his starts. Mitchell Northam attended Wednesday's game and had a chance to interview a number of players including Wall and Jared Dudley on the impact Oubre provided in the last week.
Hello Jarell Eddie, goodbye Ryan Hollins
The Wizards signed the free agent guard last Tuesday and let go of the reserve center. Does this mean that Beal is going to be out for longer than a month?
Those are all the Wizards basketball-related stories I have for this Christmas Friday, but they certainly aren't the only ones. If you have another link you'd like to share, feel free to do so in the comments or in the FanPosts!
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