After long, painful month, Wizards on the rebound
Last time the Bulls visited Washington, the Wizards had just completed an aggressive roster overhaul, sending away longtime starters Antawn Jamison (to Cleveland), Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood (both to Dallas).
The Bulls lost that game 101-95 on Feb. 22. Washington won again six days later, then embarked on an epic losing streak. The Wizards (22-52) dropped a franchise-record 16 in a row before finally beating New Orleans on Wednesday, their first and only win in the month of March.
"It's tough to go 0-for-a-month," guard Shaun Livingston told The Washington Post after the game. "We definitely should have gotten this win a long time ago, but it's all about right now. You can't worry about the past."
On Feb. 22, the Wizards had a young, athletic team on the floor. But Josh Howard suffered a torn ACL against the Bulls that night and Washington has also lost guard Randy Foye (torn wrist ligament) and ex-Clipper Al Thornton (hip flexor) to injuries.
That's how Livingston ended up starting at point guard. The Peoria native and former Clippers lottery pick missed nearly two full seasons after suffering a ghastly knee injury in 2007.
"There are no easy games," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We played well up there last time for the first half. In the third quarter, we got very stagnant offensively, (they) got back in it and got their confidence up."
Noah gets advice: Bulls center Joakim Noah was surprised by the wealth of advice he received while sitting out three weeks with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
"What was so unbelievable was so many people came up to me with so many different remedies," he said. "I got mail, old ladies telling me, 'I had plantar fasciitis and this is what I did and this helped..."
Coach Vinny Del Negro suggested there's a strong possibility Noah will return to the starting lineup in Washington. He played 27 minutes on Tuesday against Phoenix.
"I was a little gassed at times," Noah said. "But there's so much stoppage in games, whether it's time outs or a foul or something. I feel like even when I'm tired, I can usually recover pretty fast."
Never say never: Center Jerome James, 34, hasn't played all season and has seen action in just four games during the past three seasons. But he didn't rule out trying to play again next season. He's already planning to stay in Deerfield this summer instead of his home in Miami.
"If I can just get over these little knick-knack injuries, then I'll try to come play," he said. "If not, I might give it the old heave-ho."