Difference between Wizards' Games 4 and 5

We saw two completely different Washington Wizards teams in games four and five.

Randy Wittman made game four all about the old guys. Andre Miller, Al Harrington, and Drew Gooden played extended minutes. They played well in those minutes too. Gooden brought the same energy he had for the previous four games. Harrington came off the bench at the start of the second quarter and sparked the first major run by the Wizards with three steals and six points in the quarter. Andre Miller worked CJ Watson in the post and created a couple beautiful fadeaways for himself in the middle of the lane.

The problem with relying on your wily veterans is that they're not where they once were in terms of physical ability. Drew Gooden wasn't on a roster at the start of the 2013-14 NBA season. Al Harrington is currently playing for his seventh NBA team. Andre Miller was the eighth pick in the 1999 draft. That was fifteen years ago! After his starters blew the lead created in the second quarter, Wittman decided to stick with his bench bigs for most of the fourth quarter. Marcin Gortat sat alongside Nene while Harrington and Gooden played crunch time. Five years ago, I wouldn't mind the move, but you have to stick with the guys you've trusted all year to win you the game down the stretch. Instead, Harrington and Gooden took a couple ill-advised threes. Then, Trevor Ariza threw the Wizards' last hope a foot behind Bradley Beal as he was curling off a screen.


Randy Wittman's use of Gortat, or lack thereof, in game four must have struck a nerve somewhere deep inside the Polish hammer. Gortat played out of his mind in game five for the Wizards. He manhandled Roy Hibbert in the post the entire game. He pushed him out of the paint and made him a nonfactor on offense. On the other end, Gortat had his way as well. He hit two sweet lefty hooks where he spun baseline from the left block and lofted his shot over his slow-footed, seven-foot-two defender. Most of his other points came off of hustle. He beat seemingly every boxout attempt made on him on the entire game coming up with seven (!!) huge offensive rebounds in his 36 minutes of play.

He brought the same energy Gooden brings night in and night out. That's the difference between a solid NBA starting center and a minimum level guy signed during the middle of the season. Gooden's great game four statline: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks on 5-10 shooting. With the same level of effort, Gortat managed a monstrous 31 points and 16 rebounds on 13-15 shooting, and he thoroughly embarrassed the Pacers on their home court.

If the Wizards' starters can maintain that level of play, there is still hope that the they can turn the series around and make their first Eastern conference finals since 1979.