The Wizards were very close to pulling a very Wizard letdown. I had the headline all ready after the Bucks took a 78-75 lead on a Monta Ellis driving bank: WIZARDS BLOW BIG LEAD BUT POST MORAL VICTORY DUE TO GREAT EFFORT FROM JOHN WALL. At this point, we’re all hoping for Wall to be great and flash the greatness we think he possesses. If it leads to a win, that’s a cherry on top. But tonight would have and could have been painful. A 20 point lead against a playoff team with the league’s best defender and two microwave scorers was impressive, but staving them off down the stretch was even more so. The Wizards showed some heart tonight and even prevailed through a Wall-Wittman screaming match and a few dumb turnovers. Tonight felt a little bigger than it actually was.

Martell Webster saw “glimpses of greatness” in John Wall tonight and it’s hard to disagree. Wall strung together two 20 points games for the first time since last March and was the most confident I have seen him all season. In almost every recap I’ve done this year I’ve mentioned Bradley Beal’s confidence level as a barometer for his play and success, and now it looks like mentioning John Wall’s is just as important. I can’t say I would expect a third year player to be unsure of his abilities, but the last two day version of John Wall is not the same guy we saw over the preceding three weeks.

Make no mistake, tonight was all about John Wall. He got where ever he wanted on the court at any time and blew by Monta Ellis over and over and over again. I posited before the game that without Bradley Beal, the Wizards would have trouble spacing the floor, allowing for Larry Sanders to patrol a clogged key and wreak havoc on an Wizard who dared to enter. Nene and Okafor felt the brunt of Sanders’ force (a combined 9 for 25), but John Wall whisked by everyone with ease, converting a number of tough layups and one-man fast breaks. With AJ Price unavailable, Wall needed to play 43 minutes and showed no signs of fatigue, something I’ve wondered about with him since he has been back. I’ve been hard on Wall this year but that doesn’t mean I’m not realistic. When Wall is good I will be the first one to admit it. He was great tonight. It was a pleasure to watch him lead the Wizards to victory.

John wasn’t alone, however. Trevor Booker posted season-highs in points (14) and rebounds (13); Nene 13 points, 13 rebounds (huge for him) and 6 big assists to go along with a +17; Garrett Temple made six of his seven shots in a +19; Martell Webster drilled four of seven threes and scored 20 points, 17 of which came in the first; and Jan Vesely didn’t play. Oh well.

Some notes from the game:

• The Bucks’ starting front court played extremely well, limiting Emeka Okafor and Nene to a combined 36% shooting while going for 38 points and 23 boards. Ersan Ilyasova started heating up in the third and played a large part in the 27-6 run that gave the Bucks a brief lead.
• Brandon Jennings was, well, mostly invisible. He threw a few WOW passes but mostly loafed around having no luck beating Wall around picks, which is odd given Wall’s overall defensive effort so far this season. Wall has now obliterated Jennings in their two meetings this season; Jennings is shooting 5-25 in those two contests. Both of these players want max contracts.
• Kevin Seraphin came into the game, committed two  defensive fouls and was then called for an obvious charge on a back down of Gustavo Ayon. He played 10 non-impactful minutes. It appears we’re going to know if we’ve got Good Seraphin or Bad Seraphin pretty early on. It’s rare that he is decent on the court nowadays. It seems he’s either all good or all bad, skewing towards all bad.
• Larry Sanders’ ejection from tonight’s game was one of the best I’ve ever seen. After three and a half quarters of a heated Monta Ellis staring down referees after claerly correct calls, Sanders decided to get in on the act on a clear charge drawn by John Wall. Sanders gave every referee a sarcastic thumbs up (gif courtesy of @wiz_spurtin) before walking off the court and chucking up some deuces, making Chris Brown proud. His Go-Go Gadget arms made the thumbs-up look particularly comical.

Wow.

The final minute of this game featured an extremely improbable comeback, a questionable clear path foul, a three that looked perfect from the television, and an unbelievably confused announcing team that couldn’t figure out what happened. After drilling two technical free throws from a clear path foul, Trevor Ariza then went on to hit nothing but net on a game-winning three. Unfortunately, the net it hit was before the iron, not inside of it. In defense of Steve Buckhantz’ and Phil Chenier’s confusion, they didn’t even get to sit on the floor for tonight’s game. Their view was just as bad as mine on my couch.

But what an odd game it was. Jose Calderon torched everyone. Ariza led the team in scoring. AJ Price outshined John Wall for what seems like the millionth time in a row. Kevin Seraphin played and played well. Martell Webster only played 23 minutes. Bradley Beal didn’t hit a three but still shot well from the field. Brandon Knight and Greg Monroe combined for 58. And Bukchantz yelled “DAGGER!” but had to retract it as Ariza sullenly walked off the court. The boy who cried dagger will never be trusted again.

The hectic final minute of this game should allow John Wall to breathe a sigh of relief. Instead of media focusing on his unprecedented (for him) awful streak, they will focus on the fantasy that almost came to fruition. But that shouldn’t be the story. The Wizards have been competitive since Wall’s return, but is it in spite of him? I won’t go too far into it here, but he was yet again disappointing, posting more turnovers than assists and shooting the ball poorly on questionable shot selection.

Tonight was probably the year’s most memorable game and will likely be dubbed in the coming days as something like the “Optical Illusion Game”,  “Mirage Game”, or “Dagger Retraction Game.” While I’ll gleefully talk about the ending of this game at the water cooler tomorrow (I don’t actually hang out at a water cooler at work), kicking around funny ideas and rehashing the announcing confusion, Wall will be busy forgetting it. And he should. Clear your mind young fella.

Feb 25, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward Rudy Gay (22) gets by Washington Wizards forward Trevor Ariza (1) during the first half at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it’s a win nonetheless.

Washington and Toronto came out rather stagnant in the first half, making the game nearly unwatchable. Toronto turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter, but Washington couldn’t execute on the extra possessions. Instead of running in transition, the Wizards constantly passed the ball to Okafor in the post. Needless to say, the results weren’t pretty. Okafor has had his fair share of good post up plays this season, but he didn’t get it done down low tonight. He made just four of his fourteen shots from the field. Washington shot just over 25 percent from the field in the first half and kept the Raptors alive by putting them at the line. Better things came in the second half.

John Wall and Nene came alive late in the game when the Wizards needed all the points they could get. Toronto did a good job in clogging the paint and cutting Wall off on drives making him virtually useless in the scoring department. There were numerous occasions in which Wall could’ve attacked the basket in transition, possibly drawing contact from the defender, but he chose to pass the ball instead. Wall finished with 7 assists on just 1 turnover. In my opinion, Wall is becoming a bit too passive, kind of like Rajon Rondo. I like the fact that Wall is trying to get his teammates involved, and he is doing a good job at that, but he needs to learn when to shoot and when to pass. There were also times down the stretch where Wall settled for a jump shot, instead of getting to the basket at will. Wall finished with 10 points on 3 for 11 shooting, playing only 24 minutes in tonight’s match up. A.J. Price played just as many minutes off the bench as John Wall did. Thankfully, Price did a pretty good job tonight. He scored 12 points and hit some really big shots down the stretch. I would’ve liked to see Randy Wittman insert Wall into the game earlier in the fourth quarter, but it is what it is.

Now on to the best part. Bradley Beal.

We’re watching a star grow in front of our eyes. I’ve never seen a player develop so quickly, all because of his increased confidence. Beal truly is the real deal. He did it all tonight. When the Wizards needed a bucket, Beal gave them a bucket. When they needed someone to create a shot, Beal created a shot. He’s starting to hit the three ball with ease, shooting over 50 percent from beyond the arc in 2013. Beal scored a array of buckets, resulting into 20 points. Coming out of college, I didn’t think Beal was that great of an isolation player or play maker. Tonight, Beal hit shots off the dribble and his movement without the ball has been amazing. I hope you all tuned into the Bradley Beal show.

Washington will meet the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. The Pistons have had Washington’s number all year, so I’ll be interested to see if the Wizards prevent a season sweep.