'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Stephen Curry lit up the Wizards for 35 points before leaving with a right ankle sprain in the fourth-quarter of the Warriors' 101-92 victory over Washington.
A day after spending 2½ hours at the dentist to fix his two chipped front teeth — parts of which apparently became embedded in Cartier Martin's forehead — Beal landed hard on the court while his Washington Wizards were trying to hold on to a lead.
It's no secret that Wizards coach Randy Wittman likes a short rotation, no more than eight or nine players. It's his belief that playing everyone on his bench is not a long-term recipe for success.
If the Washington Wizards had any chance to steal a victory, Friday at Verizon Center might have been the night. The Wizards were hosting the Los Angeles Lakers, who were on the second night of a back-to-back, after an embarrassing 116-107 loss to the New York Knicks in a game that wasn't as close as the final score.
John Wall had a huge smile. Martell Webster told a joke. Cartier Martin and Bradley Beal were laughing. The Wizards' afternoon practice had just ended Tuesday, and the four players were at the far end of the court, putting up shots and enjoying a rare light moment.
Cartier Martin has been biding his time at the end of the Wizards bench, patiently waiting for his chance to play. He got it on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center as the Wizards took on the Dallas Mavericks. Martin scored 14 points in 10 minutes on 5 of 6 from the floor as the Wizards lost 107-101, a game that was headed toward a blowout if not for Martin's efforts.
A night after what their coach called a "flat game," Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics held the Washington Wizards to 1-for-14 shooting at the start, then were barely better at the end.
Breaking down the Wizards for the 2012-13 season.
Cartier Martin should be able to breathe a sigh of relief by now. After bouncing around the NBA on a seemingly endless series of 10-day contracts since the 2009 season, Martin signed a one-year deal with the Wizards in July for the veteran's minimum.
Wizards owner Ted Leonsis didn't have time to check, but said he was fairly certain that there isn't a single player on the current Wizards roster who was on the team when he became the majority owner back in June of 2010. He wasn't far off.
James Singleton and Cartier Martin, both working under 10-day contracts, combined for 37 points and 18 rebounds as the Wizards routed the Bobcats 113-85 in a matchup of the NBA's two worst teams.
Early in the third quarter, Chris Singleton got a steal and raced up the court for what should have been an easy dunk. Singleton went up, but the shot didn't fall. Singleton grimaced with an annoyed look on his face.
It was not a pleasant sight Sunday in Toronto, seeing Washington Wizards forward Trevor Booker and center Nene sitting on the bench wearing walking boots. Booker and Nene have the same injury, a pulled ligament in the left foot, technically known as plantar fasciitis.
Mired in a five-game losing streak and having lost by double-digits to the Philadelphia 76ers three times this season, the Wizards finally ended up in the win column, prevailing 97-76 on Friday night at Verizon Center.
Maurice "Mo" Evans spent the morning in his dentist's office. But a little swelling wasn't about to keep him off the court. After seeing the dentist, Evans headed for the gym to work out and play basketball with some friends.
He was wearing a mouth guard because of his head-to-head collision with Martin in practice a day earlier, an impact so powerful that Martin said the doctor removed parts of Beal's teeth while sewing more than a dozen stitches to close the wound.
"It's my job to be mentally prepared, just knowing my job and being ready," Martin said. "Everybody on this team can play. We're struggling right now, but we're going to continue to fight. We're not going to give up."
