March 18th Game Recap: Wizards vs. Grizzlies

Wizards Fall to Grizzlies

The Wizards played another strong first half, and brought a three point halftime lead into the locker room, but in the end the Grizzlies were too much, and Rudy Gay's 21 second half points were the difference as the Wizards fell 97-92 on Sunday night in Memphis.

There were a lot of bright spots for the Wizards, as Kevin Seraphin made his third straight start at center and did not disappoint. He nearly had a double-double at the half, and finished the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

"Kevin is doing a good job, he's getting more and more comfortable, he just needs to keep doing what he does, rebounding and being a big body down low...he's done a real nice job of that" said Head Coach Randy Wittman after the game.

John Wall also had another outstanding game, leading the team with 25 points to go along with his six rebounds and six assists.

Jordan Crawford added 22 points in the loss.

Next, the Wizards travel to New Jersey where they will take on the Nets on Wednesday night.

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Highlights

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Postgame

WIZARDS GUARD JOHN WALL:

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On the Grizzlies:
“Their guards, really their whole team, do a great job of getting steals. They are very active with their hands. When you get past Mike Conley and Tony Allen, they really do a good job of poking the ball out.”

On the Grizzlies defense:
“I was conscious of it. When you see somebody roll and you see somebody else open, you wait and hesitate from time to time and the other team gets everybody active, even their big men. They do a great job of rotating. That will get you in trouble.”

On the Wizards:
“We are getting better as a team. We just have to take out certain stretches in the third or fourth quarter. We try to go one-on-one a lot, and that hurts us. The other teams get fast-break points or other opportunities. Even when they do that, we still have a chance to win these games. We just didn’t do what we are supposed to down the stretch. For a couple minutes, we just took bad shots and had a couple of turnovers and that hurt us.”

WIZARDS GUARD JORDAN CRAWFORD:

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On the Grizzlies:
“They cause a lot of turnovers. They are a really aggressive team. If you go past them, they use their hands to swipe. That’s the kind of game Memphis makes you play.”

On opportunities created by the trade deadline:
“I think people are starting there is an opportunity here to play and are taking advantage of it. After the trades happen, you take the business out of the NBA and people start to focus."

WIZARDS CENTER KEVIN SERAPHIN:

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WIZARDS FORWARD BRIAN COOK:

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On first game with Wizards:
“It felt good to get out there. Like I said before the game, I haven’t played for a little while so it was good to get out there and compete. We had a chance to win the game, but we made some minor mistakes when it came down to the end. I thought we could get it back.”

“After my stint with the Clippers this year, I haven’t been playing that much. I would play two-and-a-half to three minutes, miss a couple of shots here and there and get taken out, which is why my shooting percentage was so low. It was good to get that ball to fall.”

WIZARDS HEAD COACH RANDY WITTMAN:

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On the game:
“They are a physical team. They muck it up. They are very physical out front. There is a lot of bumping, grinding and fouling that makes them that way. We gave ourselves an opportunity, but we just couldn’t make plays down the stretch. We still have our moments of over-dribbling. That gets you in trouble. It wasn’t as bad as the third quarter we had the other night, but it was there again. The turnovers that go out the other way, when playing good teams on the road, you can’t allow that.”

On the team:
“Our bigs did a great job inside. They battled really hard tonight. I am proud of their effort against the front line. Marc Gasol and, obviously, (Zach) Randolph are big. That is big team space. I was pleased with that.”

On Rudy Gay:
“He had a big fourth quarter. He came alive. Good players do that.”

On moving forward:
“It is going to be good to practice. Hopefully, we can get back and get these new guys on the same page of what we are trying to do.”