Rest the Veterans/Run the Youngins
- A win or a loss will not affect Washington's standings;
- Orlando has been slumping; and
- The Cleveland Cavaliers have decided, for the most part, to also take things slow.
The biggest reason for the Wizards to be careful is because (as the story says) they want to be as healthy as possible when facing the one-man band in Cleveland. Sure, LeBron James has even less help now then he did last season (or even the season before that) but he's good enough to single-handily win at least two games. And no, I don't think he'll be motivated by DeShawn Stevenson's comments.
With that all said, the best strategy for tonight's game is to just let the young players run the court. I wouldn't play the vets any more than 15 minutes apiece. Sure the Wiz may loose, but no one knows what's going to happen over the course of these playoffs and it's a very real possibility that the team could loose another key player. If that happens, the team would benefit from exposing the younger players to a little "pre-playoff" atmosphere (I'm sure with a coach like Van Gundy, Orlando will play their butts off).
Of course, with Nick Young's offensive skills, Andre Blatche's length and Dominic McGuire's defensive intensity, they may just pull off a victory. The Magic, as good as they are, is basically one good big man and a bunch of shooters.
Anyway, three things lead to playoff success: playing real defense (everyone talks about this ad nausea), having a real offensive set (even the Pick-N-Roll can get you into the Finals) and staying healthy (which has made or broken the Spurs for the entire Duncan Era). The Wizards definitely have the offense, and their defense has been way better than when Eddie Jordan first started coaching the team. But staying healthy may be the difference between going to the Eastern Conference Finals and losing in five games in Round One.
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