The Washington Wizardsrarely win, and when they do, it’s a big deal—even if they blow an 18-point lead in the process.

For the first three quarters, the Wizards dominated the Toronto Raptors, and in the fourth they nearly lost the game. In overtime, Washington held Toronto without a field goal and won 111-108 Monday night.

It was just the fifth win in 25 games for the Wizards, and for most of the game, it looked like an easy win.

It wasn’t.

Washington led 79-61 with 3:02 to play in the third quarter, and then Jerryd Bayless got hot—scoring 16 fourth quarter points to force overtime.

In the extra five minutes, Toronto missed all eight of its shots. Washington made just one of six and still outscored the Raptors 6-3.

“A win is a win—and we will take it,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said, stretching out each word to punctuate his relief.

Dwane Casey, who was once replaced by Wittman as the Minnesota Timberwolves’ coach, was none too pleased with his team’s loss—even if they did nearly engineer an unlikely comeback.

“That was a bad exhibition of basketball,” Casey observed. “We had an unprofessional start.”

The Raptors trailed by 10 after the first quarter, 29-19, and by 57-42 at halftime.

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Randy Wittman didn’t sleep on Tuesday night. Excited and nervous about his debut as Washington Wizardscoach, Wittman couldn’t wait to get started.

His players couldn’t wait, either.

The Wizards led throughout the game and blew out the woeful Charlotte Bobcats 92-75 on Wednesday night.

Washington is still just 3-15, but after the Wizards quickly built a 20-point lead and didn’t blow it, Wittman was eager to talk about the win.

Replacing his old friend Flip Saunders, who was fired Tuesday morning, wasn’t his choice. Given a contract to coach only through the end of the season by team president Ernie Grunfeld, Wittman said there was no magic in the win.

“There’s nothing to critique tonight,” Wittman said. “This is tough—the things we’ve gone through—this is tough.”

Nick Young scored 20 points, and Andray Blatche had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who didn’t have the benefit of a practice. Saunders’ lead assistant has been an NBA coach twice—with Minnesota and Cleveland. His career record improved to 101-207.

He didn’t change the starting lineup.

“All these guys get a clean slate with me,” Wittman said before the game.

When Grunfeld fired Saunders, he explained that the team needed “a new voice.”

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After a 2-15 start, the Washington Wizards fired coach Flip Saunders on Tuesday.

Assistant coach Randy Wittman will take over as coach. The Wizards, who have lost seven of their last eight games, host the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday.

Saunders was in the third year of a four-year, $18 million contract.

The Wizards’ management had hoped to avoid firing Saunders, even as the club lost its first eight games. But the team’s continued poor play, combined with the regression of last year’s No. 1 draft pick John Wall, left the team with no choice.

Wall is averaging 7.2 assists per game this season, nearly a full assist less than the 8.3 per game he averaged in his rookie year. His shooting percentage has declined to .379 from the field this season from .409 in 2010-11.

Wall hasn’t gotten much help from the Wizards, who have been prone to inconsistent play. On Monday in a 20-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, they walked down the court for offensive possessions, failed to hustle after loose balls and missed eight of nine shots in the paint in the first quarter.

After one string of sloppy plays, Saunders took a knee in front of the scorer’s table, bowed his head and rubbed his temples.

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PHILADELPHIA – Elton Brand had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Jrue Holiday also scored 17 to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to 103-83 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.

Jodie Meeks added 15 points and Andre Iguodala had 11 assists. The Sixers led by 30 in the first half and easily cruised to their third win of the season against the hapless Wizards.

Jordan Crawford led the Wizards with 17 points. They lost their third straight game and remained the NBA’s only winless road team at 0-7.

The Sixers are one of the league’s early-season surprises and are counting on this week’s slate of home games to fatten their record. After the Wizards, they play New Jersey, Charlotte and Detroit, four of the five worst teams in the Eastern Conference.

Vanessa Bryant just recorded a trifecta in her divorce from NBA star Kobe Bryant. Vanessa snagged ALL THREE of the former couple’s mansions in the Newport Beach area.

It was reported that Vanessa got the estate the couple was living in, the estate her mom is living in, and that Kobe would move into the new estate that is being built, but that’s not true, Vanessa gets that one too!!! SCORE!!!

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Wizards coach Flip Saunders decided to put Andray Blatche back in the starting lineup, and the home crowd responded by booing the struggling forward. When Washington got off to a slow start, they booed more heartily.

However, they were cheering by the end of the night as the Wizards got just their second win of the season, beating Oklahoma City 105-102 Wednesday night and ending the Thunder’s seven-game winning streak.

John Wall scored 25 points, Nick Young had 24 and Jordan Crawford added 18 for Washington, which had lost 12 of its first 13 games.

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Ever since Michael Jordan retired — all three times, really — the NBA has searched for the heir to his throne. Many players have popped up as pretenders to the throne, from Harold Miner to Jerry Stackhouse to Vince Carter. In recent years, people have stopped trying to find a clone and just searched for a similarly dominant great player. If you ever wondered why LeBron James is seen as such a failure, a lot of it has to do with his inability to meet the example set by Jordan.

There are many great players in the NBA these days, most of whom have never been directly compared to Jordan. Nevertheless, His Airness says only one player comes close enough to his greatness to merit the comparison. Not surprisingly, that player is Kobe Bryant. Here’s what Roland Lazenby, a great writer currently working on a Jordan book, tweeted on Sunday (via PBT):

Kobe’s ultimate competition is MJ. That’s why MJ watches him. MJ made people think what he was doing wasn’t human. Ditto the Kobester.

I never said Kobe was better than MJ. MJ just told me Kobe’s the only one to have done the work, to deserve comparison.

Congratulations, Kobe: Your life’s work has meant something. All that time spent aping Jordan’s movements and skills has paid off. He acknowledged you. You made it.

Of course, if the notoriously petty Jordan was going to mention anyone, it makes that he’d single out Kobe, and not just because he’d consider the mimicry flattering. Bryant really does work harder than everyone else, and he’s been good for long enough (with no signs of slowing down) that he may eventually top Jordan’s longevity. They’re similarly insane competitors.

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