All alone on the break after catching an outlet pass from Garrett Temple, John Wall scooted up the floor and threw down a left-handed dunk that did more than just secure the Washington Wizards’ 98-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at Verizon Center. For the first time since he’s been in the NBA, Wall finally got a win against the Clippers, a team that has managed to torment him more than many others.
After throwing down the dunk, Wall chest-bumped Trevor Ariza and stomped down the floor, unconcerned that he didn’t have the best performance against Eric Bledsoe, his friend and former college teammate, or that the Clippers were playing without Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. The Wizards needed to end an eight-game losing streak against the Clippers and Wall had to claim his first victory over the franchise in six tries.
Wall finished with 13 points and eight assists as the Wizards also snapped a four-game losing streak overall, returning to the style of play that helped them win seven out of 10 games during a stretch last month. Five Washington players scored in double figures with Martell Webster leading the team with 21 points and connecting on 5 of 6 three-pointers.
Nene and Temple both had 15 points and Trevor Ariza scored 10 off the bench, including a huge three-pointer during an 11-2 run that helped the Wizards turn a one-point game into a 91-81 lead in the final minutes. Wall capped the run with the emphatic jam as the Wizards (12-35) won for the sixth time in seven games at Verizon Center.
Griffin was a late scratch with a strained left hamstring and Paul missed his eighth consecutive game with a bruised right kneecap. It was Griffin’s first missed game since he sat out the entire 2009-10 season with a fractured left patella, ending the NBA’s second-longest active string of consecutive games played at 197. He had never lost in five games against the Wizards, getting the edge in each of his matchups with Wall.
Paul had 22 points and 12 assists and made a critical jumper over Wall in the final minute of a 94-87 victory when the teams last met, Jan. 19 in Los Angeles. The Clippers (34-16) have been struggling without Paul, losing three in a row and seven of nine overall, incuding a 106-104 defeat on Sunday in Boston.
With Paul sidelined, the Clippers have relied on Bledsoe, Wall’s teammate for one season at Kentucky, who has proven to be valuable asset for the team. Bledsoe was certainly fired up going against Wall but he maintained the same demeanor and never appeared out of sorts as he gave the Wizards fits all night with his quickness and freakish athleticism. He scored 17 points with nine assists and also had two blocked shots, surprising Webster as he attempted a layup with an impressive block off the glass in the third quarter.
Jamal Crawford led the Clippers with 28 points and former Wizard Caron Butler had 15 points, including a driving layup that brought the Clippers within 80-79 with 5 minutes 39 seconds remaining. The Wizards got two free throws, then Ariza made a three-pointer and Temple hit a long jumper.
Bledsoe later found DeAndre Jordan (seven points, 22 rebounds) for an alley-oop dunk. Wall missed 12 of his 18 field goal attempts, but he put the game away with a pull-up jumper and his jam after Temple stole an errant pass from Bledsoe.
The Wizards were once again without rookie Bradley Beal, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained right wrist. The offense had sputtered since Beal was injured on a hard foul in Denver nearly two weeks ago, failing to reach 90 points – and averaging just 82 – during a three-game road trip through Philadelphia, Memphis and San Antonio.
Coach Randy Wittman said the Wizards needed to focus more on moving the ball and moving without the ball to generate more points within the offense.
“We don’t that player that we can give the ball to and say, ‘Give us 35 tonight. Carry us,’ ” Wittman said. “That’s not a knock on them. That’s just the makeup of our team.”
Reserve Jordan Crawford scored just three points and was benched the entire second half after taking two questionable shots. He took a pass from Wall near the three-point line and attempted an off-balanced, one-handed runner with nine seconds left on the shot clock. Later in the second period, Wall fed Crawford in the corner for a three-pointer, but Crawford pass on the shot, dribbled back about five feet and missed a shot from at least 27 feet.
Wittman didn’t waste any time bringing out the hook, calling for Temple to substitute him immediately after the ball rolled out of bounds.
