BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -The Washington Wizards won’t let a lopsided loss to the New Orleans Hornets rattle them in the preseason.
The Wizards, who lost to the Hornets 96-80 on Tuesday in Berlin, head into Friday’s game with a point to prove.
“We’re trying to win it with the defensive groups in there and if we don’t play hard enough defense we won’t generate enough points and that’s what happened in the first half,” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. “In the second half, we got it going a little bit more, played defense better and got some scoring.”
Washington, already without Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood, can at least count on the possible return of forward Antawn Jamison with Nick Young, Antonio Daniels and Juan Dixon after all four players watched Tuesday’s defeat from the stands of the O2 World arena.
Arenas is expected to be out for the first month of the season after undergoing knee surgery for the third time.
and with Antawn back we can sort of concentrate on a rotation and some rhythm and continuity.”
New Orleans coach Byron Scott has called the overseas jaunt a “business trip” as the Hornets try to build on a conference semifinal season and become a legitimate NBA title contender.
“I think we’re up to the task this year to try and duplicate the things we did last year, but go much farther in the playoffs,” Scott said.
The Hornets, led by Olympic gold medallist Chris Paul, can also return home with a perfect 5-0 record.
“The preseason has been good for us. We’ve played extremely well,” Scott said. “We want to cap it off tomorrow night.”
Friday’s game at the Palau Sant Jordi – the site of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics – wraps up the NBA’s preseason tour of Europe.
The New Jersey Nets and Miami Heat opened the four-game series, with the Nets winning both games – 100-98 in overtime in Paris before a 94-92 win in London. The Heat dropped to 0-10 in preseason games over the past two seasons.
Spain has always held an important place in the NBA’s overseas tour plans. The league is traveling to the Iberian peninsula for the eighth time, where the first European exhibition game involving an NBA team was played 20 years ago.
“(Barcelona’s) beautiful,” Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson said. “I like shopping, (the) good food.”
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