February 26, 2013
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
While the Wizards (18-37) are still a long way from claiming a playoff spot, they are also a far cry from the team that started the season 5-28.
They have won their last seven out of nine games, and are ranked third in the division standings. After beating both the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets, the Wizards extended their win streak to three when they outlasted the Toronto Raptors 90-84 on Monday night.
Rookie Bradley Beal continued to impress, scoring a team-high twenty points in the Wizards’ fifth road win of the season. While their overall record has improved greatly since their abysmal season start, their road record of 5-27 remains the worst in the NBA.
AJ Price and Martell Webster each had twelve points on the night, while Nene added eleven points and nine rebounds. For his part, John Wall had ten points and seven assists. The return of Wall and the breakout performance of Beal have contributed greatly to the surge the team has enjoyed during the second half of the season.
Webster told reporters that the team agreed that the latter half of the season was very important. Despite this, he made it clear they’re working on things day to day, and not assuming anything. “We’re not focusing on the playoffs; we’re focusing on one game at a time.”
With twenty-seven games left in the season, the playoffs are still a long-shot, but no longer impossible. Team Owner Ted Leonsis put it best on his blog: “The team is settling into a positive groove now. We are hopeful we can stay healthy and keep up the defensive intensity we show as a team.”
Nascar
Danica Patrick is the best-known woman in auto-racing. On Sunday, she became historic.
Racing in her second Daytona 500, Patrick made history as the first woman ever to start at the pole in a Sprint Cup race. She led laps during the race, where she managed to keep her cool driving at 200 miles per hour.
Going into the final lap, Patrick was in third—if she had made the right moves, she could have had a shot at victory. Unfortunately, she fell behind during the last lap surge, and finished eighth.
While Patrick was disappointed afterwards—telling reporters, “I would imagine that pretty much anyone would kick themselves and say what could I have, should I have done to give myself that opportunity to win”—she received praise from her fellow drivers, including Jimmie Johnson, who won for the second consecutive year.
He said that she “did a really good job,” telling reporters she looked comfortable and kept close to competitors. “It was just another car on the track. I didn’t think about it being Danica in the car. It was just another car on the track that was fast. That’s a credit to her and the job she’s doing.”
