Luke Russert said it best on Twitter: the roster for the Memphis Grizzlies read like an NCAA All-Star Team.

Between a starting line-up that featured O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, and Mike Conley along with  Hasheem Thabeet and Acie Law on the bench and I didn’t know if I was watching an NBA game or a March Madness game.

Unfortunately the Wizards were without their own young star, John Wall. Wall was sidelined as he continues to recover from a bruised left foot. The team was also without early season stand-out Yi Jianlian who sat out with a bruised right knee.

The injuries meant that Gilbert Arenas would start at point guard and get more time to get back into playing shape and find his long range shot. Agent 9 is still finding his three-point stroke, only hitting two of his six three-point attempts. However he finished the night with a team-high 24 points as the Wizards walked away on Friday night victorious, beating the Memphis Grizzlies 89-86.

The game was a grind-it-out battle for much of the night. Even though the Wizards  struggled to shoot effectively (37.8% from the field), they were always in the game thanks to numerous trips to the line (30-35 in free throws) as well as a terrible game from O.J. Mayo (1-11, 3 pts).

In the second half Kurt Hinrich provided the spark for the Wizards offense, scoring in eight straight attempts in the third quarter. He ended the night with 22 points and 6 assists. Arenas’ 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter helped the Wizards pull away for their fourth victory of the season.

Despite the end-result, the Wizards never really looked dominant against the Western Conference opponent, but hey we’ll take the W. Today the Wizards travel to Detroit to play the Pistons, still in search of their first road victory.

Other Notes

• Former Maryland Terp Greivis Vasquez made his return to the DC area to thunderous applause when he entered the game. He 2-6 for 5 points. He also got an embarrassing shot on the Kiss Cam as well.
• JaVale McGee continues to improve his rebounding game, earning a double-double with 10 pts, 12 reb, 3 blks, 3 stls. Check out tomorrow’s Sport Fix for more comments from McGee on his game.

Patrick Pho

Patrick has been blogging since before it was called blogging. At We Love DC Patrick covers local Theatre, and whatever catches his eye. Patrick’s blog stories, rants, and opinions have been featured in The Washington City Paper, Washington Post Express, CNN, Newschannel 8 Washington, and NBC Washington. See why Patrick loves DC.

You can e-mail him at ppho [at] welovedc.com