Game Preview: Wizards vs. Knicks

GAME NOTES

• Tonight’s game is the second of three meetings between the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks. The Knicks won the first meeting, 112-91, at Madison Square Garden on November 5th. The two teams will square off again on January 24th in New York.
• Last game versus Sacramento…The Wizards were defeated by the Sacramento Kings, 116- 91, on December 8th at Arco Arena...Al Thornton led the Wizards with 20 points on 7-of-11 from the field...Gilbert Arenas scored 19 points and had four assists...Kirk Hinrich scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and added a season-high four steals...JaVale McGee added 13 points and nine rebounds off of the bench...Beno Udrih led the Kings in scoring with 23 points.
• Last time versus New York...The Wizards fell to the New York Knicks, 112-91, on November 5th at Madison Square Garden...Andray Blatche led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 from the field...Gilbert Arenas scored 18 points and nailed four three-pointers in his first action of the season...John Wall recorded 13 points and seven assists for the Wizards...The Knicks were led by Toney Douglas who scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in 30:13 minutes of play off of the bench.
• Nick Young leads the NBA in games with 20 or more points off of the bench with seven. The last Wizard to record seven or more 20 point games in a season was also Nick Young who had 11 during the 2008-09 season.
• Young has averaged 12.8 points per game, while shooting .496 from the field in 12 career games versus New York.
• John Wall’s 127 assists through his first 14 career games represents the second highest rookie total in NBA history. Phil Ford had 135 assists through his first 14 career games for the Kansas City Kings during the 1978-79 season.
• Andray Blatche is averaging 21.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in his last four games.
• The Wizards join the Detroit Pistons as the only teams with two players that each have had a game with 30 or more points off of the bench this season (Young 33 pts - 12/7 @ LA Lakers, Arenas 30 pts - 11/13 @ Chicago; Ben Gordon 32 pts - 10/29 vs. OKC, Charlie Villaneuva 30 pts - 11/12 @ LAC).