The trio took over when the game had slipped away from their teammates. And pretty soon a double-digit deficit turned into a double-digit lead. Such is life for a team with a group dubbed the Big Three.
Except that the Big Three had two newcomers.
Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison weren’t among that group in Monday’s 118-108 win over Seattle, losers of 15 straight road games. This time, Andray Blatche and Brendan Haywood joined Caron Butler to spark a turnaround. Butler scored a career-high 38 points; Haywood scored 20 points, three shy of a career-best; and Blatche added a personal best 14 points.
They accounted for 41 of Washington’s 62 second-half points.
“We had a different Big Three tonight,” said Wizards center Brendan Haywood, who had 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. “It was fun to be part of the offense.”
It’s what the Wizards (28-19) needed, considering they had lost two straight since Antawn Jamison was sidelined with a sprained knee. In those losses, they struggled to find an offensive rhythm and played uninspired defense.
And they talked about needing other players to chip in more. Monday, that finally happened and there was much less one-on-one play.
“My teammates did a nice job finding me in rhythm,” said Butler, who made 14 of 23 shots.
The second-year Blatche also grabbed seven rebounds, but had his best stretch of the season in the second half. In a three-and-a-half minute stretch that began at the end of the third quarter and lasted into the fourth, Blatche scored seven points, had one offensive board and blocked a shot. He pushedthe ball and he made a no-look pass to Calvin Booth, that resulted in a miss layup.
“If he understands what he needs to do, then everything else comes a little easier,” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. “You have to play at a high energy level and you have to concentrate. … We saw how easy the game can be for him.”
Blatche said, “I don’t want to be a main scorer. I want to run the floor and block shots and try to bring us more energy.”
And that helped the Wizards close the third quarter on a 30-9 run, helped by Butler’s 10 points, for an 88-79 lead. Meanwhile, Haywood scored seven points in this run. And Butler closed the quarter with a steal and buzzer-beating three.
“’Dray has the potential to do what he did tonight,” said guard Gilbert Arenas, who finished with 16 points and nine assists. “He shows it in practice every day. Brendan did a great job hitting shots, blocking shots and he rebounded. That’s what we need from a [center].”
They also need better defense. They suffered from a lack of it in the first half, but guard DeShawn Stevenson, with help from his teammates, held Ray Allen to three of 14 shooting in the second half after an eight of 13 opening half.
