Wizards Suffer Meltdown vs. Suns

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Well that was interesting. At halftime the Wizards only trailed by five points, fast forward to just over eight minutes remaining in the third quarter and the Wizards held a one point lead after a thunderous Trevor Booker dunk. Then the wheels came off, the bus rolled down the hill, crashed in a canyon, and the bus went up in flames. The final score was 104 to 88 in the loss to the Suns — the Wizards’ 25th of the season.

Now onto the Bullets Points:

My player of the game was Trevor Booker. He struggled in the massacre in the paint Friday night at Utah, but bounced back nicely tonight with 16 points (7/12 shooting) and 8 rebounds. And it was Booker’s dunk that put the Wizards up by one with 8:13 left in the third quarter.
After that dunk and Phoenix timeout the Suns went on a 16-0 run. That run was finally ended by an “and 1″ by Trevor Booker.
The Wizards — eight minutes after leading — trailed by 24 at the end of the third quarter.
Channing Frye caught fire for the Suns in the first quarter with ten points.
John Wall got off to a great start and “triple-double watch” was commenced when he had 6 points, 4 assists, and five rebounds in his first 13 minutes. However, his teammates helped play a large role in stopping any potential John Wall triple-double tonight. John finished with 10 points (4/11 shooting), 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and four turnovers in 31 minutes.
Both rookie first round picks struggled. For Chris Singleton that’s nothing new, and I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a player more in need of the All-Star break than him. Meanwhile, Jan Vesely’s foul troubles continued with four fouls in only 11 minutes of playing time.
Nick continued his struggles with his 6 point performance on 3 of 13 shooting from the field, and he was locked down by the ageless Grant Hill.
On the bright side, Nick had more assists (1) than three-pointers made (0).
In the three games since the win in Portland, Nick Young has been abysmal. He’s shot 12 of 43 from the field and has only three assists.
Nick continues to struggle, but Jordan Crawford carried over his efficient play from Salt Lake City. Tonight he scored 20 points on 7 of 10 from the field, and in the last two games he is 14 of 24 shooting and has 41 points.
JaVale McGee’s night was very JaVale McGee-like. He got off to a great start that included a couple big blocks, he showcased some up-and-under post moves we haven’t seen before, and he made a fifteen foot jump shot — albeit ill-advised. The third quarter halted all that positive momentum though. He then began to showcase “bad JaVale”. This included losing Marcin Gortat on the pick-and-roll numerous times, a charge, and a wild fifteen foot hook shot, as well as a shot to the “kahunas” — as Nick Young would say.
Wizards’ team president Ernie Grunfeld was seated next to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer at the game tonight.
Kevin Seraphin got some playing time and did a decent job. In 16 minutes he had 5 points (2/3 shooting), 4 rebounds, and two nice blocks.
Roger Mason got some extended playing time with 22 minutes. He knocked down two 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter. On the flip side his defense proved to be mythical against Grant Hill and Michael Redd.
Rashard Lewis continues to find new ways to be terrible. Of course there were some of the usual things; he missed five of his six shot attempts, missing all three of his 3-point attempts, but tonight he also managed to kill a fast break. That possession ended up in a missed John Wall jumper instead.
The officiating was down right terrible tonight. And once again, John Wall couldn’t get a call.
This was the Wizards’ tenth straight loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Here’s tonight’s box score