The fallout from the Heat-Wizards fight on Wednesday night: John Wall was suspended one game, Zydrunas Ilgauskas received a $25,000 fine, and Juwan Howard was fined $35,000.
Wall will serve his suspension on Friday.
The fallout from the Heat-Wizards fight on Wednesday night: John Wall was suspended one game, Zydrunas Ilgauskas received a $25,000 fine, and Juwan Howard was fined $35,000.
Wall will serve his suspension on Friday.
Washington Wizard rookie Trevor Booker is out for the rest of the season after breaking a bone in his right foot.
Booker played in 65 games, including 14 starts, for last-place Washington. He averaged 5.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 54.9 percent on field-goal attempts. He played in 65 games, including 14 starts.
His foot will be placed in a walking boot, and he’ll be re-evaluated in six weeks.
John Wall, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard were ejected after a skirmish during the second quarter of Wednesday night's Wizards-Heat game.
Wall was playing tight defense on Ilgauskas near the 3-point line. Ilgauskas appeared to elbow Wall in the face at least once. Wall responded by swinging his right hand at Ilgauskas.
Wizards center JaVale McGee went to separate them and was pushed away by Heat backup Juwan Howard, who was then also ejected.
Derrick Rose was the first pick in the 2008 draft after playing for a year under coach John Calipari at Memphis. Rose has gone on to be an All-Star, play on Team USA and is the leading candidate for MVP.
John Wall was the first pick in the 2010 draft after playing for a year under Calipari at Kentucky. His goal is to have a similar story as Rose's.
Both Rose and Wall had erratic jump shots when they left college, but since entering the league, Rose has improved his shot dramatically.
“My goal is to get to his level and get better,’’ Wall said about wanting to improve his game similar to the way Rose has. “It took time for him to progress. That’s something I’m trying to do."
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced on Sunday that the team has signed swingman Othyus Jeffers to a second 10-day contract.
Jeffers has appeared in five games for the Wizards, averaging 1.4 points and 2.0 rebounds. He was originally called up by the Wizards from the NBA Development League’s Iowa Energy on March 17.
JaVale McGee was credited with a block and a rebound on a spectacular play that stood out as the lone highlight on an otherwise hideous night for the Wizards. When Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews tried to dunk the ball on Mcgee, McGee grabbed the ball right out of his hands, cleanly palming it and staring down Matthews as he landed.
After the game, the Trail Blazers couldn’t help but talk about arguably the best block of the season. Portland center LaMarcus Aldridge couldn’t help but give Matthews a hard time. “I saw Wesley had his steps together, so I was like, ‘Okay, this is going to be a top 10 dunk.’ And then it was a top 10 block.”
“Unbelievable,” Portland Coach Nate McMillan said about McGee. “He is a high-wire act. McGee is a beast in the paint.”
Yi Jianlian was pulled aside by Flip Saunders an hour before their game on Tuesday against the Bulls and was told he would start for the first time since December 14th.
“It felt great. I feel very excited for the start,” Yi said afterward. “I haven’t been playing the last two months. Chance to tell myself, ‘Get ready. Be aggressive on the floor.’ ”
Yi scored seven of his season-high 14 points in the first period, but didn’t get many touches the rest of the game and was exhausted in the fourth quarter.
With Rashard Lewis and Andray Blatche on the shelf, Yi should receive consistent minutes to finish the season.
“For me it is a good opportunity to play for the rest of the season. Every minute for me is important,” Yi said. “Now I get some playing time. I got to use it to get ready for the future.”
Yi played a season-high 41 minutes against the Bulls.
“I think I got a little bit [tired] the last quarter” in Chicago, he said, “but now is much better. I haven’t been playing that much. I just need a little game feeling.”
JaVale McGee's triple-double on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls received a negative reaction from many pundits who believed that McGee went to seemingly embarrassing means to reach the milestone feat in the midst of a blowout loss.
NBATV analyst Kevin McHale called it a “bad triple-double” and described it as “terrible.” But McGee said on Wednesday that he doesn’t care about the negative criticism that followed.
“I got a triple-double,” McGee said. “Who can say they got a triple-double? I’m not really worried about it.”
Coach Flip Saunders called the plays down the stretch for McGee to get the final point needed for the triple-double and said he spoke with his third-year center about the disapproving response to his accomplishment.
"I told him the most impressive thing, rather than the triple-double, was the 12 blocks —because those were legit,” Saunders said. “Sometimes in games, assists, there’s a question. You give a guy the ball, a guy takes three dribbles and some places give him an assist. A blocked shot, there’s no ifs, ands or buts. You either block it or you don’t.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed swingman Othyus Jeffers from the NBA Development League’s Iowa Energy to a 10-day contract. Jeffers (6-5, 200), a two-time D-League All-Star (2009, 2011) and the 2009 D-League Rookie of the Year, has averaged 21.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists this season through 38 games (18 double-doubles) with Iowa.
Jeffers has also appeared in 15 NBA games over two seasons after being called up by the Utah Jazz in 2009-10 and the San Antonio Spurs this season. He will wear uniform #12.
Another day goes by and another team is talking about rebuilding their franchise using the model used by Sam Presti with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Wizards, who will host the Thunder on Monday, are the latest team to have that model bandied about. New owner Ted Lonsis often references the way Oklahoma City has built their team around Durant with other young talented players and hopes the Wizards do likewise with John Wall.
“When Ted came over, he gave the mandate to try to rebuild through the draft. I think we’ve achieved a lot in a year,” Ernie Grunfeld said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we do have some assets and we have to continue to work hard, have a good draft, add another piece or two in the draft and see what the new rules are with free agency and see what happens, but we have put ourselves in a flexible position from a financial standpoint.”