April 21, 2014
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
In recent years, the Washington Wizards have been nothing more than an afterthought in the NBA. They have been perpetually bad, struggling to move beyond last place in their division. When they broke .500 earlier this season, it was considered a victory.
Last August, team owner Ted Leonsis was vocal about his desire to reach the playoffs. “I think that all of our focus, all of our attention, is to make the playoffs this year,” Leonsis said during an off-season press conference. While he did say he thought his team was moving in the right direction, he made it clear that it wasn’t enough. “Until we make the playoffs, I’ll say we’re getting an incomplete to failing grade.”
For the first time in a long time, the Wizards stepped up to the challenge. They finished the season 44-38 and second place in their division — good for a No. 5 playoff seed. But despite their improved — and at times impressive playing (they beat Miami twice) — they are still viewed as underdogs. During an earlier NBA playoff game on Sunday afternoon, the game’s announcers were dismissive of Washington when discussing the impending Washington-Chicago matchup. “One has to wonder if Washington will exhale, content just to make the playoffs, and not play as hard as they could,” one announcer said. Adding, “No one wants to play the Bulls right now.”
But even with the odds stacked against them, the Wizards were not content with mediocrity. Instead of being content with just making the playoffs, they proved they deserved to be there. The team put on an impressive performance, outscoring the Bulls 102-93 for their first playoff win since 2008.
Brazilian power forward Nene was the star of the night, finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists. He also kept the momentum up for Washington by playing strong defense that denied Chicago points that ended up being the difference in the close game. Trevor Ariza had a strong postseason outing as well, scoring 18, while Marcin Gortat had 15 points and 13 rebounds. John Wall added 16, despite shooting just 4 of 14 from the field.
The Bulls led 52-48 at half-time, and then started to pull away in the third period, at one point leading by 13 points. But the Wizards were able to cut the deficit to just three by the start of the fourth. They then outscored the Bulls 18-6 in the final minutes of the fourth period, for the victory and a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 will be in Chicago on Tuesday, before the series moves to D.C. for the weekend. Leonsis took to his blog to express his excitement, and thank the fans for their support. In a blog entitled “Wizards Playoff: DCRISING” Leonsis wrote: “We are all excited to see how the playoffs unfold and how we continue to grow and build our organization. Wizards fans and D.C. – enjoy and embrace the return of NBA playoff basketball.”
