Earl Barron Leads Wizards Comeback, But Wiz Fall Short

Steve Buckhantz Call Of The Game

Earl Barron and Martell Webster led a valiant Wizards comeback but the Cavaliers pulled away in the final few minutes to defeat the Wiz 94-84 to start off the NBA season.

11, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 4, 4

That was the box score for the Washington Wizards.  Only 2 players barely in double figures.  Jordan Crawford and Emeka Okafor who made a combined 8 field goals in the game.  The Wizards clearly have nobody who is the clear cut leader of the team, and until someone steps up or returns from injury, the Wiz are going to have to rely on a total team effort.

Most of the game the Cavs were in control.  However the Wiz managed to keep the score within around 11 points for most of the game.  In the 4th quarter, the Wizards made a huge run thanks a lot to Earl Barron who kept possessions alive and scored key baskets for the surging Wiz.  Barron finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds in 16 minutes on the floor. (DNP in first half)

Classic Wizards offense.  Terrible spacing. Two guys next to each
other calling for the ball.

The Cavaliers dominated the Wizards for most of the game, and Kyrie Irving couldn't be stopped.  He ended with a semi-quiet 29 points while John Wall watched from the sidelines.

The Wizards and their "tipping the ball" instead of "boxing out" strategy helped lead to a 23 rebound game by Anderson Varejo (21 in the first 3 quarters) which included 12 offensive boards!

The matchup that both teams were looking at closely was that between the 3rd pick in the draft, Bradley Beal, and the 4th pick Dion Waiters.  After 2 early three pointers, Beal turned into Harry Houdini and vanished from the game.  He finished with 8 points, 3 boards, and 3 assists, a very non-impressive NBA debut.

Meanwhile Dion Waiters played big.  He looked great playing 1-2 with Kyrie Irving and he hit some bit shots including a killer 3 pointer to take the lead in the 4th quarter.  Waiters finished with 17 points.

The Wizards have several days off before facing the Celtics on Saturday for the home opener...

Other Notes:  AJ Price was far from a good point guard.  He only had 1 turnover but he slowed down the offense and dribbled too much.  The Wizards were so poor throughout spurts of the game that Jan Vesely was looking like the best player on the squad.  (View all the Vesely GIFs here).