Wizards crush Bobcats, win 4th in a row
The Wizards have their first four game winning streak since December 2007 after crushing the Charlotte Bobcats 101-73 at the Verizon Center, sweeping the season series and improving Washington's record to 18-46. Washington has won seven of their last eleven games. The Wizards had their biggest lead of 30 points in the third quarter and the 28-point margin of victory is tied for their largest of the season. The Bobcats have not won a game since March 17.
It was a true team effort by the Wiz tonight, as just about everyone on the active roster helped send the Bobcats to their 21st straight loss. Eleven players scored, four in double figures, and the team racked up a season-high 28 assists. John Wall's 14 assists were as many as the entire Bobcats team. The Wizards dominated the Bobcats in every way, out-rebounding Charlotte 45-35 and won the battles of points in the paint and fast break points 56-26 and 23-11, respectively.
This was actually a real game for most of the first quarter, but Charlotte's Tyrus Thomas was assessed a flagrant two foul and ejected with 3.6 left in the quarter after he threw a vicious elbow at James Singleton. Singleton made the two free throws and the Wizards were off. The team ran off 16 unanswered points to take a 37-21 lead and the Bobcats never got close again. The Wizards shot nearly 63 percent in the first half and led 63-39 at halftime. Washington hit over 55% of their shots for the game. The Wizards bench out-scored the Charlotte reserves 48-19.
The Wizards emptied the bench in the second half and scored only 38 points in the final 24 minutes. It didn't matter, though, since the Bobcats scored only 34.
John Wall led the way again, scoring 16 points on 13 shots and dishing a game-high 14 assists against only two turnovers. Wall also grabbed five rebounds. Jan Vesely scored a career-high of 16 points on 8-8 shooting, mostly on dunks off passes from Wall. Vesely and Wall, Washington's last two first round draft picks, have developed a nice chemistry together, allowing them to make big contributions to the offense despite the fact that neither one of them can hit a jumper.
Kevin Seraphin hit 6 of 11 shots for for 12 points -- also 7 rebounds -- extending is streak of scoring at least 10 points to 14 games. Washington's other big man, Nene, came off the bench to lead the team with 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting. He also added three blocks and it was his shooting and defense that truly sparked the 16-point run in the first half to blow the game open. It's becoming more and more obvious that the Wizards are nothing like the awful team they were before the trade deadline -- and Nene is a big reason why this is true.
Cartier Martin and Shelvin Mack came off the bench to score 9 and 8 points apiece and Singleton led the team with 9 rebounds.
Check out the two highlight and postgame videos at the bottom of this article.
| CHA | WAS | |
| Points | Henderson 19 | Nene 18 |
| Rebounds | Mullens 8 | Singleton 9 |
| Assists | Augustin 6 | Wall 14 |
| Steals | 6 players 1 | Vesely 4 |
| Blocks | Biyombo 2 | Nene 3 |
Wizards Player of the Game
John Wall: 16 points, 7-13 FG, 14 assists, 5 rebounds, +7 court ratio
