Tonight's game against Washington would seem to be somewhat inconsequential. We are fairly locked into our lottery seeding, and the Wizards are a playoff team (in name, if not in actuality thanks to their injuries), and it shouldn't matter who wins or loses.

Except, I find there is actually a lot riding on tonight's game. The Wizards, incredibly unfortunate of late, have lost their stature as an Eastern Conference contender and turned into a nearly gift-wrapped First Round playoff series victory for someone in the East, thanks to season-ending injuries to Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas.

I mean, say what you want about the injury issues the Hawks have had this season, but the Wizards have been dealt an absolutely brutal hand.

Going into tonight's game, Washington has lost six straight, and they desperately need to get back on the winning track, playoff spot reserved or not.

The Hawks, still shorthanded as ever, would seem a team they could rebuild some of their confidence against to prepare themselves for the postseason.

But, a loss to us tonight, and they will really have to do some soul-searching to figure out what to do starting next weekend.

In Breaking Down The Wizards with Herb Brown today, he said that with their injuries, Antawn Jamison has become the focal point of their offense. Look for us to pay extra attention to him tonight. Former Gawguh Bulldog Jarvis Hayes will also need to step up for them, tonight and here-on in.

I say let's come out and get a win tonight on Fan Appreciation Night, get to 30 wins, and deal an even larger blow to the Wizards fragile emotional state.

See you there!

 

Tonight is going to be a tough one, no doubt. Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams will be joining Speedy Claxton on the sidelines, courtesy of injuries they sustained Monday night in the loss at Miami.

Washington has been a particularly frustrating opponent so far this season, as we have played well enough to beat them twice on the road, only to lose by a single point each time.

What do we need to do tonight to get off the schneid? I spoke to Assistant Coach Herb Brown earlier today for our Breaking Down the Wizards segment, and he says the key to their offense is F Antawn Jamison. I was surprised to hear that, considering how many points Gilbert "Hibachi!" Arenas is capable of scoring, but Brown says the Wiz can be had if Arenas gets his 40 but they limit Jamison and Caron Butler to ten apiece.

If we are going to win, we are going to need big-time scoring contributions across the board, but particularly along the perimeter as that is where Marvin and JJ get a lot of their points. Personally, I'd like to see more Josh Childress after his performance on Monday, as he had a few very impressive forays into the lane for points.

We are on a six-game slide, and yes, breaking that would be a lot easier if we had two of our best scorers, but let's not feel sorry for ourselves. If anything, this will give some of our younger players a chance to show if they can contribute on a meaningful basis. To whit, Sekou Smith is reporting that Solomon Jones will be in the starting lineup tonight.

Come out tonight to support our guys - a win without Joe would be a huge confidence boost.

See you there!

I know we are 1-5 since the All-Star break, but I have to be honest, I am not surprised. We have faced just an absolute beast of a schedule, and the Dallas game aside, I think we've acquitted ourselves pretty well (ok, Chicago too). I expected February to be brutal on us, and it was in some ways - we finished the month 5-9, but given the schedule (and the five-game road trip) I think it could have been worse.

Now the calendar has turned, and March is looking much more favorable. And, as an added bonus, tonight we will field our entire roster for the first time this season. Tyronn Lue, who has been out for the last 10 games and was heavily limited before that, will be returning to the court. He is still not 100%, but with the addition of Anthony Johnson to the mix, hopefully between him, AJ, and Speedy, we will finally be able to get the production from the 1 spot that we've been lacking on a consistent basis.

Washington will be getting healthy tonight as well, as apparently both Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison will be making their returns from injuries. The Wizards have been struggling of late, so they too will be gunning to get back on the right track. Fortunately for us, no one on our team appears to have any beef with Agent Zero, so Gilbert Arenas doesn't have any particular vengeance planned for the evening.

The Wiz have given us fits over the last few years with their ability to score in bunches. To beat them tonight on their home court, we are going to have to keep them from going on those kinds of runs. We have been impressive in the last few weeks in our ability to come back from deficits, and that is commendable, but we need to keep those to a minimum if we want to get back in the playoff race.

I said I'd be happy getting one of three from our home slate of San Antonio, Houston, and Phoenix, and we got that. Then I said we needed to get at least one of this three-game road trip. Well, we couldn't get it done in Dallas or OK City, which leaves tonight. A big road win would give the team confidence before they return home tomorrow night for a home date vs. the Knicks, another team trying to make headway towards the 8 spot in the East.

We are healthy now, and we are playing well if not winning. Tonight's the night to start the move if we are going to make it.

Tune in to SportSouth at 7:00 ET to see how it plays out.