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Coach Flip Saunders decided to bench forwards Andray Blatche and Rashard Lewis. He started rookie Chris Singleton and second-year player Trevor Booker in their place, and the revamped Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors, 93-78, on Tuesday night in Washington for their first victory after eight losses this season – the worst start in franchise history.
Lewis and Nick Young led Washington with 15 points.
“Oh, man. It felt real good. It was like a playoff game,” Young said. “I felt like jumping in the stands.”
On Sunday, the Wizards scored their fewest points in nearly three years in a 93-72 loss to Minnesota, and the fans booed them harshly. After they fell behind in the first quarter, the fans hooted again.
“We got tired of being booed,” Young said.
After the boos, Blatche and Lewis came in, and Washington, which trailed 20-17 after the first quarter, outscored Toronto 29-14 in the second to lead by 12 at the half. Toronto briefly cut the lead to eight midway through the third quarter, but the Wizards opened up a 27-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
John Wall tied his season high with nine assists for Washington but missed nine of 12 shots. In his last two games, Wall is 6-for-21 from the field.
SLAM DUNKS
Grizzlies honor Bartow: The Memphis Grizzlies will be wearing a “GB” patch on their uniforms the rest of the season in tribute to the late Gene Bartow. The patch debuted Tuesday night against Oklahoma City, and the Grizzlies also planned to give pins with Bartow’s initials to the first 10,000 fans attending the home game. Team officials will be wearing the pin the rest of the season. Bartow died Jan. 3 at age 81 from stomach cancer. He had been president of the company that owns the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies and the FedExForum, and he also was head coach of then-Memphis State when the Tigers lost to UCLA in the 1973 national championship game.
Curry still mending: Further testing on Golden State point guard Stephen Curry’s surgically repaired sprained right ankle showed no structural damage. Curry sprained his right ankle for the third time this season Jan. 4 in San Antonio.
Fastbreaks: Bucks guard Mike Dunleavy, who has played in only three games this season, is expected to miss another two to four weeks with a groin injury. … Former Kentwood High and Eastern Washington star Rodney Stuckey will remain sidelined for Detroit because of a sore groin. He hasn’t played since last Wednesday.
