A new starting lineup saw the Wizards get off to a quick start and propelled them to 50 first half points, but they lost their rhythm in the second half and would fall to the Magic, 90-83, on Wednesday night in Orlando.
Bradley Beal's name was added to the injury report, which already included John Wall, A.J. Price, Trevor Ariza, and Trevor Booker. Beal missed the first game of his career with a sore lower back after he took a hard spill in Tuesday night's game vs. Atlanta. The Wizards would respond by inserting Shaun Livingston into the starting lineup and also gave Earl Barron his first start of the season to try and shake things up.
The new lineup seemed to pay off as the Wizards scored 26 points in the first quarter and had a good flow to their offense. Jordan Crawford had 11 first quarter points, on 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc. After registering a triple-double on Tuesday night, his encore performance appeared to be equally as impressive, but Crawford cooled off after his hot start and he would finish with 19 points, six assists, and four rebounds.
The Wizards trailed 52-50 at the half, but it was the third quarter that did them in on Wednesday night as they were held to just 13 third quarter points and entered the fourth down double digits. As they have for much of the year, they made a run in the fourth quarter and pulled to within four, but the Magic would hang on for the seven point win and send the Wizards their 20th loss of the season.
Nene finished with a season-high 20 points, while Cartier Martin and Martell Webster recorded 11 points apiece.
The Wizards now travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons on Friday night.
