(Sports Network) - Saturday night may represent the best chance yet for the
Washington Wizards.
At 0-10, the NBA's only winless team hosts the Charlotte Bobcats, who played,
and lost, Friday night in Charlotte, at the Verizon Center.
The Wizards became the 13th team in NBA history to start a season 0-10 and got
there in heartbreaking fashion Wednesday night in a 101-100 overtime loss in
Atlanta against the Hawks.
Kyle Korver drained a 3-pointer for the Hawks with 1.9 seconds left in
overtime, but Washington got a decent look. Kevin Seraphin's hook shot from
the elbow came up short, but Martell Webster stuck back the putback to
apparently give the Wizards the win.
The officials watched the replay and saw the ball in Webster's hands when the
backboard lit up, thus negating the basket and giving the Hawks the victory.
"I don't know how (the officials) counted it," said Wizards coach Randy
Wittman. "Then they come back and say it's not good, which you have to
determine because if it's that close ... our video shows it's good. I don't
know. Obviously, there's two different videos, but what are you going to do?"
Lose again, if you're the Wizards. They can take solace in knowing that one of
their injured stars, center Nene, returned Wednesday night and had 12 points
in just under 20 minutes.
Seraphin managed a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards and four
Wizards' bench players, including Nene, scored double-digits in points.
The Bobcats fell to the Hawks, 101-91 on Friday. Charlotte had won five of six
before the setback at home and they had no answer for Atlanta's Al Horford. He
had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and his side tallied 15 blocked shots.
Ramon Sessions led the way for the Bobcats with 22 points. The starting
backcourt of Kemba Walker and Jeff Taylor each had 16 points as the Bobcats
shot a sad 37.3 percent from the field.
"We had some nice opportunities and we didn't cash them in," Bobcats coach
Mike Dunlap said. "We had some really good looks, especially in the fourth
quarter, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes the ball doesn't go
down."
The Bobcats might feel a twinge of sympathy for the Wizards. Last season,
Charlotte had the lowest winning percentage in NBA history with a 7-59 record,
including a 23-game losing streak.
The Wizards lost, 92-76, in Charlotte on Nov. 13, but had won five in a row
against the Bobcats prior to the loss earlier this month.
The Sports Network