WASHINGTON -– The Washington Wizards have been off since Sunday and the long wait is starting to get to them.
“They are itching to play,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said after Friday’s practice. “There’s no question about that. Today’s practice was very, very intense. And that showed me that they are tired of seeing each other down there [on the practice court].”
Fortunately for the Wizards, the wait is over. With Atlanta’s Game 6 victory in Brooklyn, the Hawks advanced and will host Washington in Game 1 on Sunday.
Since sweeping Toronto on Sunday, the Wizards have been off awaiting the winner of the Atlanta-Brooklyn series. While the added rest has been a good thing for veterans like Paul Pierce and even youngsters like Bradley Beal, whose knee was banged up a bit, Washington has tried to maintain its focus and intensity in practice this week despite not knowing who it would play.
Pierce has emphasized to his teammates to go hard in practice to try to keep the Wizards used to game-like conditions. And while Washington has mostly concentrated on what it does best, Wittman prepped his team a bit for both the Hawks and Nets defensively.
The Wizards feel that the Hawks and Nets share some similarities offensively as far as how they both shoot the 3 and have big men who have range and can pick and pop.
“When you look at it, the teams have kind of mirrored each other as far as how they spread the ball,” said guard Garrett Temple, who practiced for the second time this week as he returns from a hamstring injury. “In that regard, we have gone over some things that will help us defend.”
This season, the Hawks beat the Wizards in three of their four meetings. Washington’s lone victory against Atlanta came on Apr. 12 when the Hawks rested their starters after clinching the top seed in the East.
Center Marcin Gortat, who averaged 17.3 points and 10.0 rebounds against Toronto, said his preparation defensively this week wouldn't change no matter if he faced Atlanta’s Al Horford or Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez. But now he knows he has to be ready for Horford, who can present problems on pick and pops.
Washington spent this week working on improving what it does. And in the first round, a major component of the Wizards’ success was using Pierce as a stretch 4 and going small to spread the floor for John Wall.
That wrinkle stymied Toronto as Pierce averaged 15.5 points and the Wizards shot 44.3 percent from behind the 3-point arc. Wall thrived as he averaged 17.3 points, 12.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds against Toronto. It’s a good bet Washington will be using Pierce and DrewGooden as a stretch 4 again in the second round.
“We are going to continue to do what’s working,” said
A week off has been good for Washington. But the Wizards are ready to start hitting somebody else and they get back to action on Sunday in Atlanta.
“The intensity got ramped up today,” Temple said. “We’re anxious. We’re restless.”
