Wizards Control Fourth In Preseason Opener

The Washington Wizards came to Richmond last Tuesday with the hopes of starting their season off with a strong camp and a win against the Grizzlies to finish off the week. After ten high intense practices to start the camp, the Wizards closed the week in fashion, controlling the fourth quarter, and beating the Memphis Grizzlies at the Verizon Wireless Arena on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, 101-92.

Entering the game, the talk centered around Wizards' point guard Gilbert Arenas and he did not disappoint as the three-time All-Star led the Wizards with ten assists, seven of which came in the first quarter.

"I thought he was good," said Head Coach Flip Saunders. "He did the things he needed to do in this situation. He had a 20 and 10 game right on his fingertips. He’s not going to miss that many free throws. Nobody should question how his knee is after he jumped over the table in the first quarter (to save a ball). He has given me no indication in the things that he has done that he’s not back. He needs games like this to play and to get used to the flow of the game. He almost got to the point where he was too unselfish." “Gil did good. He was being himself out there and he could attack at will and was trying to get everyone involved. Really with the way he played I expect him to put up a double-double every night.”

Arenas' strong play in the first helped ignite the Wizards' offense as the team shot 66.7% from the field in the first quarter and led 32-28 after one quarter of play. Joining Arenas in his offensive assault of Memphis’ defense were Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler who each reached double figures in the quarter with 12 and 10 respectively.

While the Wizards didn't skip a beat in the first, they found typical preseason struggles in the second quarter, as the team had problems from the free throw line and got out-rebounded 18-6 in the second quarter.

"I thought we did some things that were positive at times. We did some things we need to work on. If we rebound and we shoot free throws we win pretty good," said Saunders. "It was a typical preseason game. We missed some lay-ups and didn’t rebound so well."

Despite struggling for parts of the second quarter, the Wizards came back and closed the half on a Nick Young buzzer-beating jumper to make the score 55-53 in favor of the Grizzlies.

After closing the quarter strongly in the 2nd, the Wizards and Grizzlies remained tight throughout the third quarter with neither team pulling away. In the quarter, the two teams combined for five lead changes and neither squad led by more than five points during any point of the 12 minutes. The back and forth quarter ended with the teams knotted at 71.

Tied entering the fourth, the Grizzlies came out looking to pull off the road win and took an 85-79 lead late in the fourth. However, it was all Wizards after that as JaVale McGee capped off an 8-0 run with a pair of free throws that gave the Wizards an 87-85 lead. After a Grizzlies score, McGee brought the house down again, this time taking a no-look pass from Mike Miller and flushing home a right-hand dunk. The dunk would spark a 10-0 run that gave the Wizards an 97-87 lead with 37 seconds to go.

"A win is a win," said Miller. "We want to continue to try to win games and it is a domino effect. If you start winning now that carries on and we are trying to build momentum for the season.”

Following a great week in Richmond with training camp, the Wizards gave something back to the city after the game as each player signed a pair of sneakers and gave them out to the crowd in the arena. The Wizards will return to their home arena on Friday night when they host the Dallas Mavericks at 7:00 p.m.