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 Then, in their first game without Nene, Wall and the Wizards
showed they were not about to call it quits. When it comes to
playing games on the road, the Orlando Magic probably would not mind
taking a leave.
Wall scored 27 points and forward Trevor Ariza had 22 as the Wizards
downed the Magic 115-106 on Tuesday night for their season-high
fourth straight victory.
Four starters, including center Marcin Gortat and guard Bradley
Beal, combined for 91 points while shooting 34 of 55 from the field
for the Wizards (29-28). Washington led 62-53 at halftime, by 17 in
the third quarter and never let the Orlando within six points over
the final 14 minutes.
Ariza made all five of his 3-point attempts and the Wizards finished
10 of 16 from beyond the arc while moving above .500 for the second
time this season.
Since acquiring Nene before the 2012 trading deadline, the Wizards
were 7-34 overall and 1-6 this season without him in the lineup
entering Tuesday.
"Another tough injury for our team, something we've been dealing
with since I've been here," Wall said. "I know everybody jumped on
this thing of 'they can't win without (Nene).' We haven't been
winning without him. ... Everybody knows we've got to step up and
step up in different ways especially with Nene being out."
The Magic (17-42) committed 17 turnovers, which the Wizards turned
into 23 points. Washington also finished with a 13-0 advantage in
fast-break points.
Guard Victor Oladipo scored 26 points and forward Maurice Harkless
had 22 for the Magic, who matched a single-season franchise-record
with their 16th straight road loss. Orlando is 3-27 on the road this
season. .
"It's harder to win on the road, obviously," said Orlando guard
Jameer Nelson, who had seven points and six turnovers. "You've just
got to will yourself to a win at times. You can't have those moments
where you have mistake after mistake after mistake on both ends of
the court."
Orlando lost two straight games, both without guard and leading
scorer Arron Afflalo (sprained right ankle) and four of five
overall. Center Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 14 rebounds before
fouling out.
"(The Wizards) got going outside and then it was kinda hard to stop
them," Vucevic said. "We never really responded to their speed,
their physicality."
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Both teams sank over 61 percent of the field-goal attempts in the
third quarter with D.C. area native Oladipo scoring 11 in the
period. However, the Wizards ended the quarter with a 7-0 run for a
93-80 lead.
After Orlando briefly cut the margin to single digits, Ariza's fifth
3-pointer gave Washington a 106-95 lead with 4:46 remaining. The
shot eventually fell through the net after a high bounce.
"I guess I've been living right, doing the right things," Ariza
cracked.
Gortat had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Beal scored 15 of his 21
points in the second half.
Washington learned on Monday that Nene would miss six weeks with a
sprained left MCL. He suffered the knee injury during the third
quarter of Sunday's win at the Cleveland Cavaliers. Further
complicating the interior options, Kevin Seraphin sat with a right
knee injury, leaving Gortat as the lone option at center.
Forward Trevor Booker replaced Nene in the starting lineup. He
scored three points with his lone basket giving Washington an 86-69
third-quarter lead.
"The rotations were a little bit different," Wizards coach Randy
Wittman said. "You never know how that's going to transpire ... I
thought we came out and we were focused right from the start."
The Wizards largely controlled the first half thanks to 18 points by
Wall before the crowd of 13,306. Without Nene, the first-time
All-Star knows he'll have to take on a "bigger role."
"That's a situation I'm willing to accept and do, and something I've
been doing all year, being a leader," Wall said. "One thing I think
I think I've learned is that you don't have to do it all by your
scoring. You do it by different things, playing better defense,
getting your teammates involved."
NOTES: Washington improved to 2-0 in the season series. ...Orlando's
last road win came on Jan. 2. ...The Magic previously lost 16
straight games in the same season between Jan. 27-March 21, 2006.
... The Wizards won the first of four meetings 98-80 at home on Dec.
2. The final two games of the series will take place in Orlando. ...
The Magic added reinforcements by signing C Dewayne Dedmon and F/G
Adonis Thomas to 10-day contracts out of the D-League. ... Game
three of Orlando's four-game road trip comes Wednesday against the
Philadelphia 76ers. The Wizards next play at the Toronto Raptors on
Thursday.
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