Believe it or not, I actually wrote about Mike Miller taking more shots last week. The problem was, it was filed as a hedge maneuver on Wednesday before the final judgement from NBA commissioner David Stern was handed down in New York.
Miller may not have had it last night in New Jersey, but man did he have it tonight, with a season-high 25 points, shots (15), season-high 8 assists and 9 rebounds in Washington’s win over New York in front of an announced crowd of 16,233.
After relinquishing what had been an 18-point lead early in the second quarter with a pair of New York 3-pointers that tied the score, 50-50, and then, 52-52, almost immediately after the halftime break, the Wizards (16-30) went on a 30-17 tear to end the 3rd quarter, during which Miller hit five of his seven 3-pointers on the night, including three in a row to end the period. He even hit one more off the dribble to open the fourth before an ill-advised attempt from 30+ feet led to a fast break at the other end which forced Miller to foul Jared Jeffries and give him the chance at an old-fashioned 3-point play. But I digress. Miller was lights out – 7 for 10.
“If he averages 25, 9 and 8, he’d be an MVP candidate,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. “I don’t expect him to do that every night, but take shots when they’re there. The biggest thing was he didn’t turn down too many shots. I tell him when he turns down shots, you get frustrated. I thought even at the end of the first half, as a team, when we swing the ball, and the ball gets to that corner, you better be ready to shoot it. Our guys wanted to take, as I call it, two non-aggressive dribbles to try to get a shot off instead of just shooting it right away.”
“We need him to be aggressive,” said Antawn Jamison. “Sometimes you sit there, like, do I love you for being the one guy who wants to move the ball, but we need you to really be aggressive. He came out there and did a great job as far as not thinking, going out there and shooting and got into a comfort zone and really opened things up a little bit.”
“We moved the ball a little bit tonight, had the ball poppin’,” said Miller. “I don’t know how many assists we had on how many field goals, but it had to be a high number. Whenever we get the ball moving like that on high close-outs, it makes it difficult to guard. Plus, they ran a zone, which is a dream for a shooter.”
Jamison also had it going, with 21 points and a career-high 23 rebounds, including 11 at the offensive end. Hello, missed tip-ins!
“Normally with those, I’m able to get a couple to fall,” said Jamison. “I was there, able to tap them in, but I missed at least about eight or nine of them like that so that was – it was good to get them but I was mad to miss so many of them. I’ll take them how I can get them right about now.”
“23 rebounds,” said Miller. “It takes me about 14 games to get that. He does what it takes. He’s been our captain and been solid for us the whole year. He’s been solid for this franchise since he’s been here.”
One night after Washington didn’t have a single starter score in double figures, four of five did so against the Knicks (18-28), as Randy Foye also had 14 points and Caron Butler had 10. Tonight, even the bench was solid: Andray Blatche (10 points, 9 boards), Nick Young (10 points) and Earl Boykins (9 points, won his 1-v-1 battles vs. fellow 5-footer Nate Robinson even though Robinson had 16 points) all contributed at key moments.
David Lee (24 points, 9 rebounds) paced the Knicks, but they were hurt by Danilo Gallinari hitting just 3 of 10 from 3-point range, and their tendency to station big men outside the lane for jumpers led to a 59-40 rebounding advantage for the Wizards.
What does it all add up to? Yes, the fifth 2-game winning streak in a row for Washington. They’ve got five games left before the All-Star break. Trade rumors continue to swirl, and hosting Boston on Monday isn’t exactly the recipe for the first 3-game win streak in these parts in forever. But if the Wizards started to turn things around (even I roll my eyes as I type) in the middle of a snowstorm, would anyone really believe it?
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