John Wall wasn’t anywhere near the building during Friday night’s 115-107 win over the Cavaliers, as the No. 1 overall pick was forced to serve a one-game suspension for throwing a punch at Miami Heat reserve center Zydrunas Ilgauskas on Wednesday. But Wall’s teammates more than had his back, responding to the absence of their best player with some incredible individual performances.
Crawford moved over from shooting guard to start at point guard in place of Wall and had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Blatche returned to the starting lineup for the first time since coming back from a sprained right shoulder and matched his career-high with 36 points. He also grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds and set a new franchise record with 16 offensive rebounds — the most in the NBA this season.
JaVale McGee added 25 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots as the Wizards (19-56) won for the second time in three games, continuing to remain competitive in spite of unfavorable situations.
“We really did not make a big thing of it,” Coach Flip Saunders said of the Wall’s suspension. “All we said was John’s not here; other guys have to step up. We had great individual performances.”
Blatche missed 11 games last month and came off the bench in the loss to Miami. But with the Wizards needing more offensive production without Wall, Saunders gave him the start and Blatche responded with his most active performance of the season — and obviously, the best of his career. He relentlessly attacked the offensive glass, many times after his own misses. He also was aggressive and deliberate with his scoring opportunities.
By halftime, Blatche had 22 points and 12 rebounds — with 11 offensive, breaking his his previous career high of seven. He said his performance came as the result of missing so much time and becoming more appreciative of the chance to play again.
“I’m just happy to be back,” Blatche said. “I had a chance to look, and I was kind of hurt, not playing a couple weeks. The whole time I was out, it made me see that don’t take nothing for granted. Now I’m just coming back and playing with a lot of energy.”
Blatche rebounded 16 of the Wizards’ first 36 missed shots and Othyus Jeffers, a player on his second 10-day contract and getting his first NBA start for Wall, couldn’t resist the opportunity to have fun with Blatche. “He rebounded his own shots didn’t he?” Jeffers said with a laugh. “He did a Moses Malone. I told him to go for 30 and 30, but I guess he ran out of gas at the end.”
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