Wizards; True Road Warriors

Written By: Jeremy Batka @EastCoastAssn

A few years from now New Orleans will be known as the Pelicans and take the crown from the Wizards for the worst team name in the NBA. This year the Hornets may take the title of worst team in the NBA from Washington after the Wizards battled through a tough start en rout to their first road victory of the year 77-70.

As the score suggests it wasn't the easiest basketball game to watch. The Hornets had a strong first half behind Ryan Anderson, who scored 17 on the night, and it looked like New Orleans would have no problem with the lowly Wiz.

The Randy Wittman Got It From Behind Techno Song

But Anderson and the Hornets went cold scoring just 28 points in the second half. I'd like to say it was some impressive defense by the Wizards that slowed New Orleans down but really the Hornets just took some terrible shots and basically invited the Wizards to take the lead.

Jordan Crawford got the start at point guard for the injured A.J. Price and made the best of his opportunity leading the Wizards in scoring and setting his new season high at 26. Crawford proved what kind of scorer he can be, continually bailing out poor offensive possessions with successful circus shots in the lane, keeping the Wizards in the game.

Nene didn't have his best night in the stat sheet but he did manage a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Bradley Beal was the only other Wizard in double digits dropping 15 on 6-12 shooting.

Cartier Martin saw significant playing time for the third straight game and had a +20 rating, by far the best of the night. Even Jan Vesely found himself some action tonight and while he only played four minutes, that's four more than he had played in the previous three games.

The Wizards move to 3-15 on the year and play again tomorrow night in Houston, the team that picked up James Harden, who the Wiz turned down.  New Orleans allowed Washington to hang around giving them multiple chances to take the lead, a mistake the Rockets won't make.