- The Washington Times - Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Jogging to the bench with 2.2 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Marcin Gortat sat down. John Wall had been summoned to replace him for the brief final possession of the quarter. Though Gortat’s participation in fourth quarters this season has been limited, it’s unlikely he thought he was done for the night before the third quarter was over.

Yet, he was. Gortat did not play in the fourth quarter of the Wizards’ 114-107 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night in Verizon Center. Afterward, dressed in a bow tie and without his usual upbeat demeanor, he briefly answered questions about not playing.

Asked if he expected to be on the floor in the fourth quarter, Gortat answered, “Yes.”

Asked if it was discouraging to not play in the fourth quarter and if he was wondering why he was not playing, Gortat paused. “Um … I’d say just next question.”

He was asked the overall frustration level for his team, which has lost nine of its last 11 games.

“Out of the roof. Really high. Out of the roof.”

Of course, Gortat could have been talking about his simmering irritation with his season. A couple weeks ago, he was upset with his personal play. He draped blame on himself. After signing a five-year, $60 million contract in the offseason, Gortat was faced with a rare thing for him in the NBA: high expectations. He felt he was not meeting them.

In January, he scored a season-low 10.4 points per game for the month. He shot 47.4 percent from the free-throw line. He was in a funk that extended into February. On Jan. 31, he scored two points. The next game, four. He went 2-for-10 against the Charlotte Hornets on Feb. 5. Mercifully, the all-star break came.

His start after the break was so-so, just eight points, six rebounds and plenty of trouble with the Cleveland Cavaliers and center Timofey Mozgov. But, the next game brought 24 points and 10 rebounds. He was roundly effective against the Warriors on Tuesday putting together a 16-point, 11-rebound night in just three quarters.

Gortat is off the floor in fourth quarters because often other teams go with a small lineup to close the game. Golden State went small in a stunning manner by playing Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodola and Draymond Green for the final 5:33 of the game. At 6-foot-8, Barnes, who plays anything but a tough brand of basketball, was the Warriors biggest player.

Wizards coach Randy Wittman countered with John Wall, Rasual Butler, Garrett Temple — then, oddly, Martell Webster — Paul Pierce and Nene. Wittman was not receptive to being asked about his lineup choice.

“That was a decision I went with, off the dribble, spread the floor,” Wittman said. “Threw it into Nene against that. That was a decision we made. You might want a different one. Obviously, you do with the question you’re asking. But, that’s my decision, not yours. That’s the one I went with.”

This is not new for the Wizards. Gortat has watched the fourth quarter for much of the season, in part because opponents have decided to use small lineups after facing what is more and more rare in the NBA, two traditional big men. Nene and Gortat were a combined 11-for-15 against the Warriors. Also to be noted is that only two players — Wall and Temple — played more than Gortat against Golden State.

Gortat has played 621 minutes in first quarters this season, an average of 10.9 minutes per game to start. That dips to 253 total, 4.8, in the second quarter. His third-quarter minutes are a match of the first quarter, 621 and 10.9. In the fourth, his time on the floor plummets to 154 total minutes and 4.4 per game.

Often, the choice to play Nene over Gortat as the lone big man on the floor is logical. Nene is a better passer, the Wizards run a lot of offense through him and he can move better with the opponent’s big man than Gortat. Also, the signing of Pierce in the offseason produced discussion about his use at power forward to spread the floor for the Wizards. It’s a position he has rarely seen this season.

In the final 5:33 on Tuesday when Golden State used its miniature lineup, it took a 20-foot jump shot, a layup, a 23-foot jump shot, dunk off an out-of-bounds play, a running bank shot outside the lane and a 3-pointer. Gortat as a “rim protector” would have little influence over that largely away-from-the-rim shot selection for the Warriors.

Though, that would not be any solace to Gortat, who had a 2.5-hour flight to Minnesota to think about it.

• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.

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