Not the Washington Wizards again! The 3-18 Wiz arrive back home at the Verizon Center after two nights’ rest, but it’s hard to hear them now after a 30-point drubbing in Miami, their fifth defeat in six games.

John Wall is still not coming through that door! His knee prognosis has gone from a month of time off to uncertain. And the Wizards have been swimming up creek without their leading rebounder (Nene, sore foot, day-to-day but expected back tonight), leading stealer (Trevor Ariza, calf strain) and leading passer (A.J. Price, fractured hand, out 4-6 weeks). Another opening-day starter, Trevor Booker, remains out for another week with a strained knee.

There are only so many rabbits Coach Randy Wittman can pull out of this hat. It would help if he could get some veterans (Emeka Okafor, Martell Webster, Shaun Livingston) to grab the reins and step up their game offensively, or for some of the young prospect talents (Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton) to emerge. But from game to game, they’re barely blips on the screen.

Without them, Wittman is relying on Jordan Crawford, rookie Bradley Beal, third-year hook-shot master Kevin Seraphin and fifth-year wing Cartier Martin to keep them in games. With four games in five nights ahead of the Wizards, that’s a tall order.

Martin has been one of the few bright spots in the Wizards’ last two losses. He led them in scoring against the Lakers with 21 points (5-for-11 on threes), then dropped 19 on the HEAT (4-for-6 on threes). Also he hasn’t drawn many trips to the line, he’s one of a small handful of NBA players that has yet to miss a free throw (10-for-10). It has to be tempting to get him into the starting lineup soon.

Crawford is back below 40 percent shooting again, after a productive stretch (19.9 PPG on 44.4 FG%) that lasted two weeks and earned him a spot back in the starting lineup. He’s shooting 31 percent in his last four games. Miami put the clamps on him on Saturday (5 points, 2-for-12 shooting in 34 minutes) after he led Washington’s upset home win against the HEAT on Dec. 4 (22 points, 7-for-16 shooting in 31 minutes). With the injury to Price and Wall out of action, Crawford again becomes the team’s primary playmaker. He’s averaged 5.7 assists this month, and was averaging just 2.0 turnovers per game before racking up 6 against Miami.

Back on the bench in favor of Singleton and Okafor, Seraphin has been probably the biggest thorn in the Hawks’ side, averaging 20 PPG and 8.5 RPG in the first two contests. Four of his paltry 17 blocks on the season have come against the Hawks (just 2 blocks in the 5 games since the last game at Atlanta). He’s made big shots late in both games, either to pull the Wizards to draw within a basket or take the lead. It will help if Atlanta can draw a few fouls on him early, throwing some bigs at him in post-ups while drawing him as a help defender from driving guards.

After having his lunch eaten by David Lee and the Warriors, it’s a perfect time for Josh Smith (3 points on 1-for-12 shooting vs. Golden State) to chow down against the Wizards. During Player-of-the-Week week, Smoove’s 15 rebounds (6 offensive) against them on December 7 were a season high. His last loss in a regular season game against the Wizards, you ask? January 11, 2008. DeShawn Stevenson had 19 for D.C. in that game, which also had appearances from Hawks Acie Law IV, Anthony Johnson, and the late Lorenzen Wright.

DeShawn may be rested tonight in preparation for KD coming to town tomorrow. Stevenson’s five three-pointers were just enough to keep the Wizards at arm’s length in the last matchup. But he and the Hawk guards have been turning cold from the 3-point line in the past week. Excepting John Jenkins in a garbage-time role, the combination of Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver, Stevenson, Lou Williams, Devin Harris, and Anthony Morrow are a combined 27-for-85 (31.8 percent) on three-pointers in their last four games. Morrow will be unavailable with a sore back, so expect a lot more floor time for Korver and Devin tonight.

Washington’s overall defensive efficiency (102.1 opponent points per 100 possessions; 97.5 points per game; 53.1% total shooting) is actually a little better than Miami’s (102.4; 98.1; 53.5%). When opponents find a way to get the ball to the rim (23.4 FGAs/game, 2^nd fewest in NBA) they’re experiencing little resistance, shooting 68.4% (2^nd highest in NBA). Same deal on short-range shots -- second-fewest shots taken (7.2) but second-highest opposing FG% (44.7%). Meanwhile, their foes are shooting just 31% on long-range two-point jumpers (lowest in the league), and yet they take the fourth most (22.1 FGAs/game).

It is amazing that a team that gets opponents to settle for outside shots has been this unsuccessful, but that’s because their own offensive efficiency has been so wretched (93.4 points per 100 possessions, only NBA team below 95). Especially the way the Hawks have been shooting as of late from that range, though, it’s time to try something different. This is an ideal game to attack from the paint some more, both on post-ups and assisted buckets.

Go Hawks!

~lw3