And so momentum meets momentum.
A two-game winning streak doesn’t exact inspire fear, but Charlotte comes into the Verizon Center tonight having won three straight, the latest against Cleveland. Box score readers everywhere had be double-taking this morning when they saw Bobcats 94, Cavaliers 87. Want a player to watch? Gerald Wallace has dropped a season-high 31 points twice in a row, and Stephen Jackson has helped Charlotte rediscover how to score.
But there had to be double-takes involved with reading the box score for the Wizards, too, as neither Gilbert Arenas nor Caron Butler scored in double digits in Washington’s win over Miami while Nick Young posted 22, his second game in a row with 20+. Washington has won two in a row, inching tantalizingly close to real signs that a turnaround might be in store.
In fact, here’s the lingering question from last night: was that the Wizards’ best game of the season. The only game that would compare would be the season-opener in Dallas, but that’s where the similarities end. Dallas: Arenas goes for 29 and 9 while Andray Blatche has 20 and Randy Foye has 19 off the bench. In Miami: Arenas sits in the fourth quarter while Antawn Jamison drops a 24-13 double-double, neither Blatche nor Foye score in double figures while Young goes off and Earl Boykins plays closer. Two totally different teams! What’s your vote?
Here’s what Wizards head coach Flip Saunders will look for to see if Young’s solid stretch will continue: “I can tell with Nick, maybe not the shot but the bounce he has in his step, the way he’s playing offensively and defensively. One of the things that we’ve talked to him about, he seems to play better defensively when he makes shots. I liken it to if you ever go watch a little kids’ basketball game, fourth-grader makes a shot, he runs down defensively and slaps the floor and he’s ready to play whenever he makes the shot.”
Backhanded compilment? Just a thought. And none of those questions come up about Boykins: “Whenever he’s played in this league, he’s always been a fourth-quarter player: great free throw shooter, and just has that uncanny ability to be able to make shots. Earl is probably one of the most unique players to ever play at this level, to play at his size and do what he does, be able to score and basically at times, almost dominate the game.”
