D.C.'S FINEST - 2011- ATLANTA VS WASHINGTON GAME ONE

Washington Wizards (4-0) at Philadelphia 76ers (1-1)

THE STORYLINE: Allen Iverson returned to Philadelphia where he was drafted and played 11 years for during two tenures, in what was a battle between John Wall and Evan Turner, Turner again did not have many minutes but behind Ray Allen's and Iguodala's efforts, the Philadelphia 76ers improved to a winning record and handed the first loss to the defending champions this season.

WHAT WE SAW:

Iverson's return to Philadelphia: Allen Iverson had a somewhat shaky return back to his one home for over decade recording 24 points and 5 assists. Iverson hit 9 of 23 field goals and went 2 of 9 on three pointers, although the three pointers he recorded were pretty astonishingly awesome.

Hitting a Wall on assists: There hasn't been a game yet where John Wall hasn't recorded 10 or more assists, this game was no exception, Wall hit 7 of 8 field goals, 2 of 2 on three pointers, conceded 3 turnovers but recorded 11 assists. Wall recorded 16 points on the day.

Ray Allen 6/6: Ray Allen can still hit those 3 pointers, Allen went 9 of 14 on field goals and went 6 of 6 on three pointers for 27 points. Andre Iguodala had a good game as well recording 31 points, Iguodala recorded 7 assists and went 12 of 21 on field goals, the 76ers looked pretty decent tonight and controlled the Wizards for most of the game.

5 games of the Washington Wizards defending their title have gone by, a month has passed since the opening tip-off and numerous amounts of trades, signings and rumors has surfaces for what looks like another exciting year of NBA. But first.

• Wizards guard Allen Iverson has expressed interest in re-signing with Washington this off-season despite the season just being one month in, Iverson is said to be enjoying the city and life as a Wizard.

• Talking of decent players, how about two decent teams that could be in the Eastern Conference Finals series. The Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic, 119-117 just a couple of days ago, the game was always close and it had to go into overtime it was that damn good. I'm guessing the Boston Celtic head back to the NBA Finals this season.

• Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is playing with Plantar Fascilitis that last's around 1-2 weeks. Rondo has averaged 11 assists per game this season, this could be a big blow to the Celtics if Rondo shows regression in his rehabilitation.

• Legendary basketballer Shaquille O' Neal has told Cleveland media that he will retire at the end of the season. John Wall and Dirk Nowitzki have been named players of the week from November 21-27. The Wizards traded center Javale McGee to the Golden State Warriors for a 1st round draft pick in the 2012 draft.

Top 6 Power Rankings (November 30th)

1. Celtics (3-0)
2. Nuggets (5-0)
3. Heat (4-1)
4. Hornets (4-1)
5. Magic (3-2)
6. Wizards (4-1)

You may be surprised that the #28 Milwaukee Bucks are 0-4 after having high playoff aspriations, The Lakers are off to a 3-3 start and the Bulls have barely played any games with a 1-1 record.

Great start man Also nice to see Allen might be back!

Thanks man, yeah I hope he returns and doesn't retire.

Washington Wizards (4-1) at Atlanta Hawks (3-3)

THE STORYLINE: The defending champions traveled to Atlanta after coming off a 2 point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, the Wizards looked off on everything against the Atlanta Hawks who improved to 4-3 after starting, 3-3, the Hawks had underachieved so far but against the Wizards, the defending champs, they showed why they should be mentioned as one of the best teams in the league after blowing out a team that boasts John Wall and Allen Iverson.

WHAT WE SAW:

Points in the paint: The Wizards didn't play great defense and gave up the most points this year (125), the Hawks recorded 57 of 84 field goals (67%) and 11 of 19 three pointers (57%), a part from their fantastic shooting percentage, they also dominated in the paint recording 80 compared to Washington's 52.

Ivertastic: Wizards shooting guard Allen Iverson easily played his best of the year, Iverson went 8 of 11 on field goals and 4 of 5 on three pointers recording 20 points. Counter-part point guard John Wall conceded 5 turnovers, recorded 23 points but also recorded 14 assists in a some-what mediocre performence by one of the best players in the league.

Long road ahead: The Wizards face the Chicago Bulls next, after that they host the unbeaten Denver Nuggets and then play New Orleans, Orlando and Los Angeles Lakers in consecutive games before finishing the month up with games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics. The Wizards have started December with a loss, just how many more will they suffer in extremeley tough month.

Chicago Bulls (1-2) at Washington Wizards (4-2)

THE STORYLINE: The Wizards started off their 5 game home-hosting streak with a big win over the Chicago Bulls in a re-match of last year's Eastern conference finals series, the Wizards were down by 10 points early in the second but rallied to take control of the game in the second half.

WHAT WE SAW:

Fouled out, early shower: John Wall was fouled out of the game with just under 5 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Wall went 5 of 8 on the day, recording 11 points and 4 assists, he turned the ball over 3 times in limited time and commited over 5 fouls, it wasn't good enough from Wall who commited too many fouls on the day, Wall was lucky the Wizards caught the Bulls on a bad day or it could of impacted the team really badly.

More Ilgauskas, less Rose: Derrick Rose may of had a good day recording 24 points and 8 assists, but in reality he had a poor game turning the ball over 7 times and recording 9 of 25 field goals, not great numbers for a point guard to be considered one of the best in the league.

Posted by That Wizard Guy on December 6, 2010, 12:03 AM EST

Allen Iverson wanted to talk about a contract extension this week after the team improved to 5-2 with a big 91-82 win over the Chicago Bulls.

And Iverson got what he wished for. This morning the Wizards announced they had extended Iverson's contract with a 5 year deal worth $17.49M. Somewhere Nick Young won't be happy as the young upcoming superstar was suppose to start at shooting guard this season, that didn't happen and it looked like he may start next season, looks like that won't happen either, but multimedia reports suggest Iverson want's to play at least one more season in his illustrious NBA career, one which he was awarded the 2001 NBA MVP.

"I'm very happy to be in Washington," said Iverson after a Wizards practise. Iverson wrote on his twitter account, "U BOY JUS INKED NEW DEAL, WHATS POPPIN."

He isn't the only one that's happy to stay in Washington, Fans have been buying Iverson's jersey's in every state, Iverson is the third most brought jersey this season behind John Wall's and Kevin Durant's. "It's a big signing for us," said the 2011 NBA Finals MVP. "We have been bonding great, he's been teaching me new things, he's probably our best player," continued Wall.

Allen Iverson may be good, but he's not as good as John Wall, who's a top 3 talent in this league this season.

Tough loss against the Hawks man and nice bouncing back the game after, but I'd post more stats... I only saw the games from Wall and Rose in this last game

Tough loss against the Hawks man and nice bouncing back the game after, but I'd post more stats... I only saw the games from Wall and Rose in this last game

ok i will post boxscore links from now on

The Wizards announced they had signed J.J. Redick to a one year deal worth around $1.90M.

Good signing in Redick. He's very solid off the bench. I must admit I haven't been posting in here a lot, but I love your recap layouts and pics.

yeah as hova- said Redick is a good signing.He can bring some energy from the bench.He cant miss when open

Denver Nuggets (8-0) at Washington Wizards (5-2) - Away Team Box Score - Home Team Box Score

THE STORYLINE: The Undefeated Denver Nuggets road into Washington to face the defending champs, in what was a closely fought game, the Nuggets came way with their ninth straight win of the season, the win says something about the Nuggets, they could be this year's NBA Finals champion.

WHAT WE SAW:

Melo restricted: Carmelo Anthony came into the game recording 29.6 points per game on average, Anthony recorded just 4 of 12 field goal shots and 0 for 4 on three pointers as he picked up just 12 points, the Wizards defenders did their work.

Wall out: John Wall ball'd tonight, Wall went 13 of 27 on field goals, recorded 13 assists and recorded 30 points, he couldn't be stopped, Iverson took a lot of the heat off of Wall but when one of the best players in the league shines, it's hard to stop him.

Nice job on re signing Iverson , but till 2016 ??

Nice job on re signing Iverson , but till 2016 ??

he gets paid more and more each year, signing him to a long-term contract means his earlier years are cheaper, he's definitley retiring probably next season, so i kinda got a good deal lol

Nice addition on Redick and also nice to keep Iverson around. You killed Carmelo, but tough loss.

New Jersey Nets (2-4) at Washington Wizards (5-3) - Away Team Box Score - Home Team Box Score

THE STORYLINE: The New Jersey Nets travelled to Washington to take on the Wizards, who were coming off a loss to the best team on current form in the Denver Nuggets. John Wall dished out a career high 22 assists in the 108-104 win, the Nets almost caused one of the biggest upsets of the season but the Wizards managed to outlast them after a poor first quarter.

WHAT WE SAW:

The Wizards struggling? The Wizards may be struggling. After starting out 4-0, they have gone just 1-3 in the last four games, it doesn't get any easier for them, the next three games are against the New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers...eek help!

Nets looking better: The Nets are looking a lot better after the close loss to the Wizards, they are allowing just 103.7 ppg over the last 7 games, the Wizards had some trouble trying to get to the basket, Wall may of recorded a lot of assists but they did a good job in restricting his field goals.

Nice addition on Redick and also nice to keep Iverson around. You killed Carmelo, but tough loss.

thanks, redick has played real well since he came to washington, glad i signed him up.

New Orleans Hornets (4-1) at Washington Wizards (6-3) - Away Team Box Score - Home Team Box Score

THE STORYLINE: The New Orleans Hornets wanted to make a statement, beat the defending world champions and improve to 5-1. John Wall, Andray Blatche and the Washington Wizards had other ideas as the Wizards proceeded to blowout the New Orleans in what was predicted to be a closely fought game to the death -- turns out that the Hornets may just be pretenders, not contenders.

WHAT WE SAW:

Hornets pretenders?: I really didn't like the performence of what I saw from the New Orleans Hornets tonight, they were dreadful, awful, pretty embarrasing and didn't really show up. Chris Paul was restricted to just 14 points and hit just 5 of his 19 shots, he made just 1 of 8 three pointers, I thought the Hornets would do some damage this regular season, they might have an okay record at 4-2, but they look like pretenders now.

Best Pure Point Rating: It's no coincidence John Wall leads the league in this category (#1 19.9), Wall recorded 23 points, hit 10 of 13 field goals, 2 of 3 three pointers, 13 assists (9 came in first quarter) and recorded a heavenly 6 steals whilst turning the ball over just once. Nice numbers, sadly he probably won't take the MVP award this season, although he should of last season.

Statistical Statistics: The Wizards are ranked #6 in scoring (104.8 ppg), but rank #21 in points allowed (101.4 ppg), they rank #2 in assists per game (25.2, #1 is 25.5) and rank first in steals per game (14.6), that's 5.7 more steals per game than #2 Miami Heat (8.9).

The Washington Wizards are currently 7-3 after playing through the first month and a half of the season. It's been a rocky few weeks for the Wizards, they went through a 3-2 stretch from game 6 to 10. They lost convincingly to the Denver Nuggets, lost to Atlanta and barely avoided an upset by the New Jersey Nets. However a win is a win and the Wizards still look primed to make a splash this season.

• Hail to the Philadelphia 76ers, they already knocked off the defending champs this season, but handed Denver (11-1) their first loss of the season on Dec 15. The Nuggets look like the best team in the NBA, but struggled to defeat the 76ers, 112-94.

• The Golden State Warriors have made Reggie Williams "Available to the Highest Bidder." The Warriors arn't looking good this season and instead of trading off their star players, they should keep them.

• LeBron James and Brandon Roy have won players of the week. The East have had 6 different players for the 6 weeks this season, whilst Brandon Roy has won it now 3 times, in the last 4 weeks.

• Tyson Chandler, center for the Phoenix Suns is out for the next 2 to 4 weeks with a severe ankle sprain.

Top 6 Power Rankings (December 13th)

1. Nuggets (10-0)
2. Hornets (4-1)
3. Heat (6-2)
4. Hawks (6-3)
5. Mavericks (5-3)
6. Celtics (5-3)

Orlando Magic (3-5) at Washington Wizards (7-3) at 7:00pm est - Away Team Box Score - Home Team Box Score

THE STORYLINE: The Orlando Magic came in looking for a win, they almost got it, it's just that a few Wizards prevented it from happening. John Wall who leads the Wizards with 19.1 points per game wasn't the main one, it's recently acquired JJ Redick who did the damage, and a lot of it. Redick recorded almost 60 points as the Wizards avoided the revenge that the Magic set out since being swept during the playoffs and improved to 8-3.

WHAT WE SAW:

I liked JJ Redicks play: JJ Redick easily recorded the best performence of a Wizard this season. Redick went 22 of 36 on field goals, went 10 of 16 on three pointers and recorded 5 rebounds for a total of 56 points. He didn't even turn the ball over and was a huge reason, in the second quarter, why the Wizards were able to overcome a 20 point deficit to comeback and eventually win it.

Wizards defense is poor: The Wizards may have one of the highest scoring offenses in the league, they also have one of the worst defenses in the league in allowing points. Vince Carter recorded 39 points, he did turn the ball over 6 times but went 7 of 10 on three pointers and 15 of 21 on field goals. It wasn't a good enough effort and the Wizards could lose big against the Lakers if they don't fix this out.

wtf reddick 56 pts ?

And in only 20 minutes !

Yeah, I was down bad, so i just spammed the three pointers with him, they kept going in so i was like wtf this guy was ballin at the three pointers, most of his points came from there i think.