Washington Wizards Status Check:
Record: 29-52
Division: 5-11
Conference: 15-36
Road Record: 7-33
Last 10 Games: 3-7
Streak: Lost 5
Last game: 106-101 loss to Brooklyn
PPG: 93.2 (28^th)
Opponents PPG: 95.8 (8^th)
Offensive Rating: 100.2 (30^th)
Defensive Rating: 102.9 (5^th)
Pace: 92.2  (14^th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .476 (25^th)
Turnover Percentage: .143 (26^th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .746 (5^th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .247 (25^th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .192 (25^th)
Opp. eFG%: .483 (7^th)
Opp. TO%: .137 (14^th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .206 (16^th)
Leading scorer: John Wall (18.4)

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Washington Injury Report:
Nene: out (sore foot/ankle)
Trevor Ariza: out (sore knee)
Bradley Beal: out (stress reaction)
Emeka Okafor: left Monday’s game (sprained ankle)
Martell Webster: out (strained abdominal)

Overview:
Final game of the season and it all comes down to this—well sort of. It’s not quite miss or make the playoffs, but with the Hawks loss to Toronto last night, the Bulls now control their own seeding destiny.

It’s hard to tell if the Hawks were tanking, during their 113-96 loss to Toronto, but it’s up to Chicago whether or not they face Indiana or Brooklyn in the first round. No Atlanta starter played more than 22 minutes.

The match-ups have been broken down here before but quickly: If the Bulls win or both teams lose, Chicago gets the fifth seed. That would mean a first round date with the Nets. The Bulls are 3-1 against the Nets this season. The bad news about that five seed is that, if you win, you have to face the Heat in round two. In the six seed, you take on Indiana. Chicago is 1-3 against the Pacers this season. Obviously, you would avoid the Heat until the conference finals in that scenario.

If I had to choose, I’d take the Nets. I’d actually favor the Bulls over Brooklyn in the series, if Chicago is relatively healthy. Plus I am of the mindset that you take it one round at a time. I don’t really think the Bulls have a chance to win it all, but if they do, they’re going to have to get past the Heat at some point. So why not take an easier round one opponent?

Whichever road the Bulls end up having, they have to square off with Washington to get there.

The Wizards are currently riding a five game losing streak, their longest skid since early January. Four of those five losses came against playoff teams, with the outlier being Philadelphia (although Miami and Brooklyn were resting starters). Washington is 2-6 in April, after a solid 16-13 record over February and March.

The Wizards are giving up 99.0 points per game in April, four more points per game that they allowed in March and nearly six more than they allowed in February.

A part of these struggles are from injuries. Trevor Ariza has missed their last four games, Nene missed the game against Brooklyn, while Emeka Okafor had to leave that game because of a sprained ankle. Bradley Beal has played just once in April, scoring eight points in a 90-86 win over the Bulls. Martell Webster has missed the last two games. Ariza, Beal, Nene and Webster are out against the Bulls. That is three starters missing for Washington, something the Bulls can relate to.

Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson returned last game, with Noah playing poorly. Apparently, Jo may have a minutes limit entering the playoffs. I wonder why he is out on the floor at all right now, when the Bulls don’t really need to win games. And why he played in the April 7 game against Detroit. He could have rested for nearly a month and been at his best for the playoffs, instead he has now played two somewhat meaningless games, and could play another tonight.

“I’m just happy that my foot held up,” Noah said. “I think we’re a pretty deep team. We just need to play together and get our chemistry right. The last game is important.”

I know that the plantar fasciitis only gets better with rest, and really it won’t fully heal until the offseason, but it seems counterintuitive to bring Noah back before it is necessary. I would take a rusty Joakim Noah over a less healthy one every single time.

The Bulls are 1-2 against the Wizards, dropping the last two games in the series. However, Washington is just 7-33 on the road this season and has last seven straight away from home.

It’s been a very up-and-down year for the Bulls. Losing to the Wizards would fit with their less than impressive record against lottery teams, but it’d be nice if Chicago ended this odd season with a win.

Remember back in late January? Early February? Things were looking up for the Bulls. They weren’t just thinking about making the playoffs. They were taking aim at the second or third seed in the Eastern Conference. Luol Deng and Joakim Noah were named to the All-Star team. An early March return by Derrick Rose looked like a real possibility. Optimism abounded.

Then things started to fall apart.

There were injuries, injuries, and more injuries. The offense withered. The defense took a few steps back. Players started looking both mentally and physically fatigued. The team slumped in February (5-8) and had to win four out of their last five games in March to finish the month .500 (7-7).

After last week’s big win over the Heat — which was Chicago’s third in a row — it appeared the Bulls were turning things around. Unfortunately, they then suffered a fourth quarter collapse in Dallas, had to come from behind to beat a bad Pistons team at home, and then suffered another late collapse last night in Washington.

Losing to the Wizards felt much worse than losing to the Mavericks. Getting beaten by clutch shots from Dirk Nowitzki is a little different than getting beaten by clutch shots from A.J. Price (10 fourth quarter points) and Trevor Ariza (7 fourth quarter points).

While John Wall (27 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) was doing the superstar thing and Washington’s role players were delivering, the Bulls were unraveling physically and psychologically, which sort of made this game a microcosm of the season.

Already without Derrick Rose (left knee rehab), Joakim Noah (plantar faciitis), Marco Belinelli (abdominal strain) and Rip Hamilton (back spasms), the Bulls lost Taj Gibson again after he reinjured his knee in the second quarter.

Gibson was pretty upset afterward: ”That’s what happens when you rush back and try to help your team win. I’ve still got an MRI [Wednesday] but hopefully it’s not as worse as before. But it was real painful … it’s similar. But it’s all about how it’s going to feel [Wednesday]. I hope there’s no swelling. But that’s what they said, the same injury, the same MCL sprain, but we don’t know the [degree] just yet.

“I just did a basic rotation. Tried to slide, and it just buckled on me. It was real painful. I tried to just play through it because I kind of got nicked up the last couple games and kept playing. I came down the court and just told [coach Tom Thibodeau] to take me out and just went to the back. I just knew it was real painful, I just couldn’t keep going. I didn’t want to hurt my teammates.

“It’s kind of difficult to put pressure on it, but that’s how it is when you kind of sprain it. I’m just hoping that I have nothing torn but it basically feels the same as when I hurt it the first time.”

As if losing Gibson wasn’t bad enough, the Bulls lost Kirk Hinrich with 3:19 left in the game. Hinrich — who has been nursing a variety of injuries all season — didn’t get hurt, though. He just lost his nut. He argued a call. And argued it. And argued it some more until he finally got the boot.

Mind you, at this point the game was still very winnable. The Bulls were only down a point (83-82). Hinrich couldn’t have lost his cool at a worse time.

But it happened. John Wall made one of the two technical free throws the Wizards received via Hinrich’s meltdown and now the Bulls were down 84-82. Less than 30 seconds later, Jimmy Butler made an aggressive drive and got fouled. Remember how he missed those two critical free throws in the loss to Dallas? Remember how I said he’d make the shots if put in a similar situation?

I was wrong. Jimmy bonked ‘em both.

Nate Robinson was able to tie the game with a 21-footer, but after A.J. Price put Washington ahead again by nailing a 13-footer of his own, Robinson drew a foul and, like Butler before him, went 0-for-2 from the line.

Mind you, both Butler and Robinson are 80 percent foul shooters.

Maybe it was fatigue. Maybe it was nerves. Whatever the case, those four misses were fatal. The Wizards made more plays down the stretch, Ariza knocked down clutch free throws with eight seconds left, and the Bulls came away with another frustrating loss.

Said Butler: ”It’s frustrating. That’s the word that I would put on it. You look over at Nate, he’s cussing himself out. It’s tough knowing that the game’s kind of on your shoulders you missed two. It’s devastating to us personally as a team and all of our fans.”

Of course, clutch scoring — or the lack thereof — wasn’t Chicago’s only problem last night. The Bulls got outscored 13-2 in fast break points and lost the rebounding battle 51-45.

Said Hinrich: ”We need to execute what we need to do to win the game. We knew transition was going to be a big part of this game and rebounding and we didn’t play good in either regard tonight. We have to have our edge and also we have to be right. We have to go out there and be able to take away the other team’s strength. We just couldn’t do that today.”

Then too, the Wizards used a solid defensive strategy against a Chicago team that ranks 24th in three-point percentage (34.2%) and 27th in field goal percentage (43.6%): They packed the paint and forced the Bulls to launch shots from the outside. According to Hoopdata, the Bulls attempted 22 shots at the rim versus 25 shots from 16-23 feet and 23 shots from three-point range.

Considering the Bulls shot 39 percent overall and were -10 in free throw attempts, you can see that strategy worked out pretty well.

The Bulls were just terrible in the second half, shooting 7-for-22 (31 percent) in both the third and fourth quarters. Butler, Hinrich and Luol Deng went 3-for-16 during that stretch. Carlos Boozer (19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists) went 9-for-18 and was the team’s best scoring option…but he got only three shot attempts in the fourth quarter and wasn’t really involved in the offense.

So there you have it. The Bulls lost ground in their battle for the fourth or fifth playoff seed in the East. And the prospects are grim. Belinelli, Hamilton and Noah remain day-to-day. Gibson will be out for a few games at least, and maybe longer. And I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that Rose won’t be coming back this season.

Mind you, that’s pure speculation on my part, especially considering there has been next to no news of note in that regard (other than Rose’s obligatory “I’m not ready yet” statements and guys like Bo Jackson and John Wall advising Rose not to return before he’s ready). But given how cautious Rose and his people have been approaching this situation, it seems highly unlikely that he will make his return with nine (or fewer) games left in the regular season. Heading into the postseason — when the stakes and physicality go up several notches — is not the time to work in a superstar coming back from a serious injury. And if Rose truly was considering trying to play this season, he might now find Gibson’s post-game comments ringing in his ears.

That’s what happens when you rush back and try to help your team win.

So where does this leave the Bulls?

Said Boozer: ”It is (important to get into a rhythm). But how can you do that when you’ve got so many guys that are important to you out? There’s got to be a mix of doing the right thing but at the same time we’ve got key guys we have to get back before we can get consistent. But the guys that are playing are playing great. We’re super shorthanded, we’re playing heavy minutes against different matchups and having a chance to win every night. Our goal is to be healthy going into the playoffs but we’d like to get a good rhythm before we do that.”

That pretty much says it all. It’s hard to get into a good rhythm when so many players are out with injury, but players are out with injury so you can’t get into a good rhythm. Boozer hopes his team will be healthy by the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine that happening. It hasn’t been the case all year and I can’t see that all turning around in the next couple weeks.

And unless it does, the Bulls — despite all the effort and grit they’ve shown this season — will be dead men walking.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.

Washington Wizards Status Check:
Record: 27-46
Division: 5-10
Conference: 13-30
Home Record: 20-17
Last 10 Games: 6-4
Streak: Won 1
Last game: 109-92 win over Toronto
PPG: 93.2 (28^th)
Opponents PPG: 95.4 (7^th)
Offensive Rating: 100.2 (30^th)
Defensive Rating: 102.6 (5^th)
Pace: 92.0 (15^th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .475 (25^th)
Turnover Percentage: .144 (27^th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .745 (6^th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .248 (25^th)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .190 (24^th)
Opp. eFG%: .480 (5^th)
Opp. TO%: .136 (18^th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .209 (19^th)
Leading scorer: John Wall (17.3)

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Washington Injury Report:
Nene: questionable (sore knee/wrist/shoulder)
Leandro Barbosa: out (knee)

Overview:
With ten games remaining schedule, playoff positioning is something to keep an eye on. Chicago is currently sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, half a game back of Atlanta and three games ahead of Boston.

As of this moment, the Bulls would match up with the Knicks in the first round. If I had my choice, New York would be the first round opponent I would take. The Bulls are 3-0 against the Knicks this season with the last contest coming up on April 11.

Indiana, the two seed, has beaten up on the Bulls most of the season, going 1-3. And if Chicago moves up to fifth, they would have to take on Brooklyn. Even though I can’t see the Bulls advancing far in the playoffs, it would be better if they were on the opposite side of the bracket as the Heat.

Of their final ten games, the Bulls play just three playoff teams (Nets, Knicks, Heat). The other seven come against Wizards (twice), Magic (twice), Pistons and Raptors (twice). That should be seven pretty easy wins. Who knows if the Bulls will get those wins, and who knows what those wins could mean to their playoff positioning.

I guess we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. I say that those seven wins should be relatively easy, but the last time the Bulls and Wizards met, Chicago lost by 13 points. The only player to score in double figures in the game was Nate Robinson, who dropped 19 off the bench. The Bulls starters only managed to score 40 points combined, led by nine points from Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and the always durable Rip Hamilton.

Butler started this game in place of Luol Deng, who was missing with a hamstring injury.

If Noah could’ve managed just one more point he would have had another triple-double, as he finished with ten assists and 17 rebounds.

Noah had a nice duel with Emeka Okafor going, as the UConn grad recorded 15 points and 16 boards. John Wall also had 15 points, while Nene poured in 16. Nene will be a game-time decision tonight, as he seemingly is listed as having a “sore everything.”

Since Wall came back the Wizards have been a good team. Their defense is fifth in the league, higher than the Bulls, who are sixth and they’ve won seven straight home games.

Stat of the night: He’s averaged 27.8 points on 63.5 percent shooting and 9.5 assists in the last four games in Washington, according to STATS LLC. Good luck Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson.

Washington Wizards Status Check:
Record: 10-31
Division: 4-8
Conference: 4-21
Home: 7-13
Last 10 Games: 6-4
Streak: Won 1
Last game: 114-101 win over Minnesota
PPG: 91.5 (29^th)
Opponents PPG: 96.8 (12^th)
Offensive Rating: 97.6 (30^th)
Defensive Rating: 103.3 (7^th)
Pace: 92.1 (11^th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .461 (29^th)
Turnover Percentage: .143 (28^th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .735 (13^th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .248 (22^nd)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .178 (26^th)
Opp. eFG%: .483 (9^th)
Opp. TO%: .136 (17^th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .206 (18^th)
Leading scorer: Jordan Crawford (14.9)

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Wizards Injury Report:
Cartier Martin: out (hyperextended knee)

Overview:
The Bulls had been struggling at home all season, with a record just over .500 and losses to some sub-par teams. Coming off a hard-fought win against the Pistons, the Bulls were expected to have their hands full against the Warriors. That was far from the case though, as the Bulls jumped all over Golden State from the beginning and cruised to a 16 point victory.

In the first quarter, Chicago held Golden State to 22.7 percent shooting, while the Bulls hit at a 53.8 percent rate. Kirk Hinrich had eleven in the first quarter and hit two treys. Before last night, he had hit more than two three-pointers in a game just twice. And those eleven first quarter points would have tied for his sixth highest scoring game of the season. He ended up with a season-high 25 points and connected with 6-7 from deep (he hit eight threes in all of November). Things were working for the Bulls early, and although the lead shrunk to 13 at half, Chicago maintained control throughout.

Jimmy Butler got his first double-double, recording a career-high 12 rebounds to go with 18 points. Carlos Boozer (15 points, 13 rebounds) and Joakim Noah (14 points, 16 rebounds) also joined the double-double party. Those three guys owned the glass, and the Bulls out-rebounded the Warriors 56-37. Chicago grabbed 16 offensive rebounds against the best defensive rebounding team in the league. Golden State had been giving up 11.3 O-boards per contest.

Nate Robinson was Good Nate last night, scoring 22 points on 16 shots. Even Daequan Cook hit a three. It was a dominating all-around performance (The Warriors did get to the line 33 times, and hit 29 of them, which was one of the few negatives).

From one of the better teams in the leagues to the second worst, Chicago’s attention now turns to the Wizards. The Bulls topped Washington in late December in what was an ugly contest as neither team shot 40 percent. The Wizards won the rebounding battle 56-49, but the Bulls turned it over just nine times and allowed only eight points off those giveaways to make up for the difference.

Marco Belinelli led the Bulls in scoring in the first match-up with the Wizards, scoring 17. It was Rip Hamilton’s first game back after missing 12 contests, which forced Belinelli back to the bench. The fear was that the he couldn’t duplicate the same numbers he had as a starter. It looked promising after that game, but hasn’t been so great since. Since Belinelli returned to the bench, the 17 he scored against Washington are his high. He is averaging just 8.9 points in the month of January, hitting double digits just five times.

Emeka Okafor dominated the glass, grabbing 18 rebounds, including six offensive ones. The way the Bulls cleaned the glass like Windex against Golden State, Okafor shouldn’t be allowed to duplicate that high number.

The biggest difference in this one (other than Luol Deng possibly being out) will be the presence of John Wall. At least one team in this match-up will have their franchise point guard. Wall is averaging 14.0 points and 6.9 assists in eight games since his return from a knee injury. Washington is 5-3 with the Kentucky-grad in their line-up, topping the Hawks and Nuggets among others (all of their losses were single digits as well).

They got a double-digit win last night over the very injured Timberwolves though. Minnesota, who was without Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic and Alexy Shved, allowed the Wiz to shoot 57.8 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from deep. Six Washington players scored in double figures and ten guys had at least six points, all led by Jordan Crawford’s efficient 19 (7-10). Bradley Beal dropped 16, while Wall and Okafor each chipped in 14.

It was the second highest point output for the Wizards this season. They rank last in offensive rating (97.6) and second to last in effective field goal percentage (.461). For as bad as their offense has been, and it has improved with Wall back in the line-up, their defense has been impressive. Washington ranks seventh in defensive rating (103.3) and ninth in opponent eFG (.483). The Bulls managed just 87 points against the Wizards on December 29.

Washington has won four straight at home, and is 6-3 in their last nine, while the Bulls have won five straight on the road. Chicago is 4-5 on the second night of back-to-backs and the Wizards are 1-10.

Washington Wizards Status Check:
Record: 4-23
Division: 2-7
Conference: 2-17
Road Record: 1-12
Last 10 Games: 2-8
Streak: Won 1
Last game: 105-97 win over Orlando
PPG: 89.2 (30^th)
Opponents PPG: 96.9 (13^th)
Offensive Rating: 95.8 (30^th)
Defensive Rating: 104.1 (12^th)
Pace: 91.3 (20^th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: .446 (30^th)
Turnover Percentage: .142 (20^th)
Defensive Rebound Percentage: .733 (13^th)
Offensive Rebound Percentage: .251 (22^nd)
Free Throws Per Field Goal Attempt: .180 (26^th)
Opp. eFG%: .488 (14^th)
Opp. TO%: .139 (13^th)
Opp. FT/FGA: .209 (18^th)
Leading scorer: Jordan Crawford (16.0)

Stats from Basketball-Reference

Wizards Injury Report:
John Wall: out (knee)
Trevor Ariza: out (strained calf)
Trevor Booker: out (strained knee)
A.J. Price: out (broken hand)

Overview:
The Bulls might have gotten just what the doctor ordered after they were dominated in their last two games: an extended break—thanks to a game postponed due to weather—and a date with the league’s worst team at home.

Not only is Chicago playing the 4-23 Wizards, but they are getting them on the second night of a back-to-back. Washington is 0-7 this year playing on no rest and 1-12 on the road.

The Wizards did win for the fourth time this season on Friday, but it came against an Orlando team that has lost to the Hornets and Raptors in the past week. Not to take anything away from Washington’s win, though…wait that was exactly what I was trying to do. Washington’s win was against a team whose best player is arguably JJ Redick. And I love JJ Redick (please trade Redick to the Bulls, Orlando management).

Jordan Crawford was the game’s leading scorer, dropping an efficient 27 points off the bench (11-16 FG). Nene added 23 points and eleven rebounds. It was the first time this season the Wizards had two scorers with 20 or more points. Washington’s bench combined to score 57 points, while Orlando’s reserves scored just 33 (with 23 of those coming from Redick). The Wizard’s second unit actually outscored their starters.

Washington lost their first 12 games of the year but is 4-11 since that terrible start, with wins over Portland, Miami and New Orleans. They have already lost to Detroit twice, Charlotte twice and Cleveland twice. To say the Wizards have been struggling is such an understatement; it’s like saying Lindsay Lohan has been to a party or two.

In Washington’s defense, they are also without their starting point guard. John Wall is still having issues with his knee and it’s unclear when he’ll be able to play again. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? And to defend the Wiz even more, they’ve lost four games in overtime, with a lot of other losses coming by single digits. That means just one or two possessions go a different way and the Wizards could get the win. Plus they only lost to the Rockets by six, while the Bulls got blown out of the gym by Houston. As a matter of fact, I think the Rockets are still scoring on the Bulls, four days later.

The bad news for Washington is that they’ve been struggling on the offensive end, and that’s where the Bulls excel for the most part, with the exception of Chicago’s last time out. When it’s bad news for one team, it’s usually good news for the other. And in this case it’s great news for Chicago. They go from playing the highest scoring team in the league, Houston, to playing the lowest scoring squad.

Washington is last in offensive rating (95.8), points per game (89.2) and effective field goal percentage (446). That is the trifecta, folks. It’s unconfirmed whether or not the Wizards understand the object of the game is to put the ball in the hoop.

“They must be good at something though,” you’re probably saying. And you’d be wrong. They are mediocre at some things, but good is a strong word to use for this Wizards team. Unless you count being “good” at losing. They have that one down.

Washington is middle of the road in defensive rating (12^th) and ranges from average (13^th in defensive rebound percentage) to poor (22^nd in offensive rebound percentage) when it comes to the glass.

The Bulls will still struggle to score points as they always do, and it may be tougher as Luol Deng could miss the game. Lu sprained his ankle in the Houston game and is listed as day-to-day—as usual with Thibs. However, Rip Hamilton may return from the torn plantar fascia in his foot he’s been out because of. Rip has missed 12 games, nearly all of December with the injury. He was averaging 13.4 points on 45.5 percent shooting to go with 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He and Deng will both be game-time decisions.

From the other side: Kyle Weidie from TruthAboutIt.net joins us to give the Wizards’ perspective. Follow Weidie on Twitter at @Truth_About_It:

Question #1: What have you done for me lately?
(What’s the status of the Magic over the past week?)
Coming off two embarrassing home-and-home losses to the Detroit Pistons, the Wizards snapped an 8-game losing streak at home against the Orlando Magic on Friday night. Now that a third of their season is gone, they have four wins to show. John Wall participated in a 5-0 drills at practice the other day for the first time all season, but the timetable for his return is still indefinite. The Wizards’ other main player, Nene, played in his 15th game on the season against the Magic and it was his best (23 points, 11 rebounds). He’s slowly starting to play more time as he continues to deal with plantar fasciitis.

Otherwise, Wizards coach Randy Wittman is playing point guard roulette. He started the season with AJ Price and Jannero Pargo as a backup. Later on, Pargo would get cut for Shaun Livingston, Price would break his hand, Livingston would get cut for a Wizards draft pick who didn’t make the team in training camp (Shelvin Mack), and Mack would start for temporary point guard Jordan Crawford (who was late for a shoot-around and moved out the starting lineup two games ago). The kicker: another recent D-League call-up, Garrett Temple, started the second half at point for Mack in last night’s win against the Magic.

Question #2:  Who threw out my alarm clock?
(Which player(s) are we sleeping on?)
No one is really sleeping on any Wizard, but if I had to nominate one, it would be Martell Webster. Without back problems entering this season, he has boosted his numbers to career rates — although, not something to write home about, so we save it for the blogs. Webster can still be as inconsistent as any Wizard, but not because of lack of effort, which has been visibly evident. This season he’s racking up more assists that he ever has, and after Nene, Webster has the highest eFG% on the team (.515).

Question #3: What game-within-the-game counts most?
(What matchup between two players or between each team in a particular statistical category is most important.)
While Nene has had his way against the likes of Tyler Zeller and Gustavo Ayon over the past two games, I’ll be especially interested in how he and frontcourt partner Emeka Okafor fare against Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah tonight. The Wizards can’t win unless they run a lot of offense through Nene out the post. So if Chicago can contain Nene’s points in the paint while clogging the passing lanes that the unselfish Brazilian seems to see better than anyone else, it will be business-as-usual for Washington, which will mean loss No. 24 in 28 games.