Pacers Too Much for Wizards
Playing without the injured Nene and Trevor Booker for the third straight game, the Wizards ran out of steam in the second half and fell, 109-96, to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night at Verizon Center.
Thanks to a great defensive effort in the 2nd quarter (held Pacers to 15 points), the Wizards were able to cut the Pacers lead to one heading into the half (52-51). But, they could not manage to keep the Pacers quiet in the second half, and dropped the first game of a three games in three nights swing.
Some of the bright spots in the game were Jordan Crawford and Kevin Seraphin's play, as Crawford led all scorers with 28 points and Seraphin dropped in a career-high 19 points to go along with his 10 boards.
Brian Cook added 10 points and nine boards in his best game as a Wizard, while John Wall added 13.
Next, the Wizards head to Detroit to take on the Pistons on Thursday night.
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Highlights
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Postgame
WIZARDS GUARD JORDAN CRAWFORD:
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On the Pacers:
“They made a lot of shots we couldn’t afford to let them get. They got a lot of easy shots. We didn’t make them take tough shots.”
On the team:
“People aren’t holding their heads down. We are still playing hard every game. We are in games. Everybody has struggles. You just play through them.”
WIZARDS GUARD JOHN WALL:
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On being shorthanded:
“When we are missing our big men or our guards you have to be smarter with the things we do. You have to fight through foul trouble and fatigue. At these times you need your second group to step up and that’s what they’ve been doing. They have been playing big for us.”
On tonight’s performance:
“Jordan (Crawford) had a great first quarter for us. Then our second group came out and played big and got us back in the game. I’m just playing basketball. I’m just reading, taking shots that I usually take and being aggressive. We just have to play basketball.”
On the long season:
“No, the season is not taking a toll on us. It’s just teams are doing a good job in trapping me in pick-and-roll. We just have to figure out how to work over it and continue to watch film.”
On playing defense:
“I know when I penetrate that guys are coming and you just have to keep working on different aspects of your game.”
WIZARDS CENTER KEVIN SERAPHIN:
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On playing with Nene:
“I just try to learn from him. He tries to show me everything he knows. The way I try to focus on defense is to position myself and use my body very well.”
WIZARDS HEAD COACH RANDY WITTMAN:
On John Wall:
“I think he needs to take a step back and simplify things. He’s maybe trying to do too much too fast right now. Sometimes it’s easier to take a step back and slow down. That’s what I have told him. It’s not an easy thing to do. He’s a competitive kid who wants to play well and wants to play the right way, and sometimes you just get going the opposite way when you struggle a little bit.”
On tonight’s game:
“To come in at halftime where we were, I was really pleased, especially with the way they were shooting the ball. Then they came out in the third quarter and really kind of hit us, staggered us a little bit and we didn’t have enough to overcome that.”
On Kevin Seraphin:
“He’s growing. Like I said, a lot of times when you have injuries or you have trades or you have movement on your team, an opportunity presents itself and you have to always be ready. He has worked hard every day, even when he wasn’t playing very much, and it has panned out. He has a lot of confidence, and that’s the main thing in our league. If you don’t have any confidence, I don’t care how skilled you are, you’re not going to perform very well. He’s playing with a high level of confidence.”