No one would have batted an eye if Randy Wittman had hopped on a plane Saturday and left the Wizards behind in Houston to be with his family.
The Washington coach's older brother, Rick, died unexpectedly Saturday morning in Indianapolis. Wittman skipped the Wizards' morning shootout but was on the bench Saturday night for a hard-fought 123-122 win over the Rockets.
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“Tough day,” Wittman said, via The Washington Post. “But he was here. He watches every game in a La-Z-Boy and he’s up in heaven watching it in a La-Z-Boy. Tough day, but I’m proud of our guys.”
The Wizards had lost three in a row coming in and still must face the Thunder and Warriors on their current road trip. It's unclear whether Wittman will coach Monday night's game in Oklahoma City, but there's no doubt he was at the front of his players' minds Saturday.
“It was a big win,” Wizards forward Jared Dudley said. “We wanted to win this one for coach. We’ve been struggling and this was a game we were grinding throughout.”
