New Wizards Are 1-0!

The new Washington Wizards defeated the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 108-99 tonight in front of a small crowd that made very little noise until the second half, when Washington made a big run to take the lead. The Wizards trailed for most of the game, but used a 21-8 run in the 4th quarter to take the lead for good. All this went down only hours after team captain Antawn Jamison was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Zydrunas Ilgauskas, a first round pick and the rights to European player Emir Preldžič. The Wizards also shipped out Drew Gooden, recently acquired in the Dallas Mavericks trade, to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for quick forward Al Thornton and power forward Brian Skinner. [Read this for all the details on the big Wizards trade!]

The Wiz were led by Andray Blatche, who started in place of Jamison and scored a career-high 33 points, also grabbing 13 rebounds. It the first 30 point-rebound game of Blatche's career. It was a fitting accomplishment for Blatche, who now qualifies as the "old man" of the team -- not counting the disgraced and suspended Gilbert Arenas, Blatche is the only player from the 2006-07 team still on the roster.

Supporting Blatche was Mike Miller, who got the start at quick forward. Miller was incredibly efficient, scoring 17 points on only 8 shots [he went 5-8, all 5 hits being from 3-point range] and adding 6 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in a game-high 44 minutes on the floor. His +18 on/off ratio was tops among starters and second on the team.

Javale McGee got the start at center, his first of the season, and notched a double-double, 14 points [7-10 shooting] and 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes. His 5 blocks in less than half a game indicate that if the Wizards are going to get a triple-double this year it might be McGee getting it done in points, boards and swats. However, McGee also had 3 turnovers and allowed Timberwolves big man Al Jefferson to score 18 points on 8-10 shooting. As usual, McGee looks like a freakish athlete who doesn't really know how to play basketball. The team was -6 with McGee on the court while backup Fabricio Oberto got the team to +7 in only 14 minutes. McGee plays with great energy, but he needs to make smarter decisions on offense and figure out where to stand and how to move against the pick and roll on defense.

The Wizards got no help from their starting guards. Nick Young missed 6 of 7 shots and got only 15 minutes on the court, while Randy Foye missed 7 of 10 shots and notched a -13 court ratio, worst on the team. However, backup point guard Earl Boykins scored 8 points and dished 8 assists in only 20 minutes and his +22 court ratio was tops in the game. Boykins seemed to do less mindless speed-dribbling tonight and his up tempo pace clearly fit nicely with athletic big men like Blatche and McGee.

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    New Wizards are 1-0!