Nene was nowhere to be found. The Washington Wizards 6-foot-11 center wasn't on the inactive list, but he wasn't at the end of the bench, either. After playing more than 48 minutes total in the last two games, Nene sat out the Wizards game against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday at Verizon Center, a 26-point blowout loss.
Jordan Crawford was the picture of calm. The Wizards had just lost 108-106 to the Charlotte Bobcats in double overtime to fall to 0-11. But as Crawford stood in the center of the locker room ready to take questions from reporters, the look on his face was more acceptance than disappointment.
Washington Wizards coach Randy Wittman normally begins his postgame news conferences by making a brief statement before taking questions. After the past couple of games, Wittman has been at a loss for words.
Despite playing a tired Utah Jazz team on the second night of a back-to-back, and a couple of tweaks to the starting lineup, it wasn't enough to get the Wizards into the win column. The Wizards lost 83-76 to the Jazz on Saturday night at Verizon Center. The loss drops the Wizards to 0-8, which ties last season's start – the worst in franchise history.
It's every team owner's worst nightmare — looking toward the bench on game night and seeing more star power in street clothes than in uniform. It's something the Washington Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks have in common.
Two games into the 2012-13 season, Chris Singleton wasn't sure what to think. In the Washington Wizards' opening game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Singleton played 17 minutes and had a pedestrian outing — four points, four rebounds and two assists.
After the Wizards dropped their home opener to the Boston Celtics on Saturday, coach Randy Wittman joked that he wasn't sure if the sun was coming up the next morning. Washington went 81/2 minutes before scoring its first field goal and still managed a comeback before falling 89-86.
The pressure was on Kevin Seraphin. With 30 seconds left in the game and the Wizards down by one point, and Kevin Garnett draped all over him, Seraphin threw a wide cross-court pass that went out-of-bounds. After a start so dismal the home crowd began booing in the first quarter, the Wizards' second unit, led by Seraphin (19) and Jordan Crawford (21), managed to turn a potential rout into a competitive game in the second quarter, before eventually losing losing 89-86.
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.
