The Washington Wizards are 1-11, and on Monday, they will be hosting a Houston Rockets team that just knocked off a very good Portland Trail Blazers squad at home. While the Rockets are under .500, all signs points to them winning on Monday.
So why am I confident? The Wizards' history on Martin Luther King Jr. Day is randomly outstanding.
Every year, the Wizards play a home afternoon game on MLK Day, and for some reason, that energizes the team. Washington is 7-2 in its last nine games on MLK Day, and some of their opponents have been very strong clubs. Take a look.
- 2011 vs. Utah Jazz: Win, 108-101. This was a Jazz team that hadn't yet traded Deron Williams and still had major playoff aspirations.
- 2010 vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Win, 97-92. The Blazers were shorthanded, but they still were a 50-win playoff team that year.
- 2009 vs. Golden State Warriors: Loss, 119-98. OK, so Golden State wasn't very good this year.
- 2008 vs. Dallas Mavericks: Won, 102-84. The Mavericks won 51 games that year.
- 2007 vs. Utah Jazz: Win, 114-111. This was the famous Gilbert Arenas 51-point game, which he ended with one of his patented buzzer beaters. Utah won 51 games this year and reached the Western Conference Finals.
- 2006 vs. Philadelphia 76ers: Win, 104-76. Philadelphia won 43 games this year.
- 2005 vs. San Antonio Spurs: Loss, 101-73. No shame in losing here. The Spurs only won the NBA title.
- 2004 vs. Chicago Bulls: Win, 93-83. OK, the Bulls were awful this year.
- 2003 vs. Denver Nuggets: Win, 89-74. OK, so were the Nuggets.
If only every day could be MLK Day for the Wizards...
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