Wizards still produce magic without Wall against Raptors

Andray Blatche recorded a team-high 22 points while Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young added 20 apiece as the Wizards thrived without Wall, who was sidelined by a sprained left foot he  suffered on Saturday.

Washington (3-6) ended a string of consecutive losses to open a seven-point lead at halftime before surging further ahead with a 15-2 run that gave the home team an 81-59 advantage.

“We played with a great amount of energy,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders told reporters. “I liked the way we really shared the ball and played as a team.”

Sonny Weems led the way with 16 points for the Raptors who slipped to 2-9 for the season. Toronto shot just 40 percent from the field and have now lost two of out three on their  four-game road trip.
The bright spot for the Wizards this season had been their  prized rookie guard Wall, who has made a strong start to his NBA career by averaging 18.1 points and just under 10 assists  per game.

In his absence, Arenas made his first start of the season  and drained a trio of three-pointers one game after he scored a season-high 30 points against the Chicago Bulls.

Once the Wizards’ franchise player, Arenas was suspended for the final 50 games of last season for bringing guns into the team’s locker room and he has since taken a backseat  following the arrival of Wall.

“Just from seeing him (Arenas) play the last game, I could tell that he was getting his confidence back,” Blatche said.  “It’s great to have him back and playing at a high level.”