Wizards at Hawks
THE STORY: Trouble in paradise after only one game? Well,
yes, but only if your version of paradise includes snippets of the
Washington Wizards. It didn't take long for discontent to surface with
the Wizards, who blew a 21-point lead – at home – in falling to the New
Jersey Nets on Monday. The defeat left forward Andray Blatche grousing
about the way he was utilized offensively, saying he needs to get the
ball inside more instead of shooting jump shots. Blatche used his
Twitter account to sound off before tweeting to his critics to “shut
up.” Wizards coach Flip Saunders called Blatche's outburst
“disappointing” and met with him prior to Tuesday's practice to clear
the air. The Atlanta Hawks had a much smoother opener, building a
22-point halftime lead against the very same Nets on Tuesday and never
easing up. The Hawks will try to make it two straight wins when they
host the Wizards on Wednesday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, SportSouth (Atlanta), CS Washington
ABOUT THE WIZARDS: (0-1): Blatche’s rants aside, the biggest issue
for Washington in its season opener was getting murdered on the
backboards. Kris Humphries, the former Mr. Kim Kardashian, grabbed 16
rebounds alone for New Jersey, while Blatche topped the Wizards with 10.
Two telling stats were the eight boards pulled down by Wizards point
guard John Wall and Washington only managing to snare eight rebounds on
the offensive glass. Guard Nick Young was back at practice Tuesday after
injuring his foot Monday.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (1-0): Losing super sub Jamal Crawford was a concern
entering the season, but Atlanta’s bench flexed its muscles in its
opener. The trio of Vladimir Radmanovic, Zaza Pachulia and Tracy McGrady
combined for 42 points on 15-of-27 shooting. Pachulia also grabbed 11
rebounds to help Atlanta to a dominating 51-36 edge on the glass. Point
guard Jeff Teague picked up where he left off in last season’s playoffs
with 13 points in 24 minutes while matched up against Deron Williams.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1.
Atlanta ranked 26th in scoring (95.0) and 28th in rebounding (39.3)
last season, so Tuesday’s opener was a positive in both areas.
2. Washington dropped its first 25 road games last season en route to a 3-38 record away from home.
3. The Hawks had beaten the Wizards 12 straight until Washington posted a 115-83 win on April 9.