Wizards turn to Butler, Jamison for more heroics
It was appropriate that Wizard Caron Butler’s buzzer-beating shot Sunday night downed the Indiana Pacers. The play was reminiscent of the 1986 film “Hoosiers,” about Indiana high school basketball.
In the movie, coach Norman Dale of underdog Hickory High, designs an intricate final play, but is over-ruled by his star player, Jimmy Chitwood, who tells Dale, “I’ll make it.” Hickory inbounds to Chitwood, who holds the ball for the last shot. With the clock ticking down, Chitwood dribbles to his right, pulls up, swishes a jump shot at the buzzer, and is swarmed by teammates as he delivers Hickory the Indiana state championship.
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Sunday night, life imitated art.
Wizards at HawksWhen » Tuesday, 7Where » Philips ArenaTV/Radio » CSN(HD)/980 AM» Atlanta (29-21) is coming off its most decisive home loss this season, 121-97, Saturday to the lowly LA Clippers. The defeat illustrated the importance of PG Mike Bibby (16.1 points per game, 5.1 apg), who missed his first game this season. Bibby (foot) is day-to-day. He and backcourt mate, Joe Johnson (21.4 points per game, 6.1 apg), recently selected for his third All-Star Game, are interchangeable combo guards.
Interim coach Ed Tapscott of the underdog Wizards called “Sideline-X,” a play designed for Antawn Jamison or Caron Butler. But Butler decided he could make it. Like Chitwood, Butler patiently waited for the clock to run down, dribbled hard right, and pulled up for the winning shot at the buzzer.
“It’s essentially three guys along the foul line,” said Tapscott, describing Sideline-X. “Antawn going to the ball side, post up. Mike James coming out to get the ball. And Caron Butler getting the rub screen at the foul line for the [isolation] on the weak side.”
Sound like the picket fence?
Butler’s jumper didn’t win the Wizards a championship, but it did provide some long-awaited magic at Verizon Center as Washington improved to 11-40.
In order to eek out the 119-117 victory, the Wizards needed season-high efforts from Butler (35 points, 13 rebounds) and Jamison (34 points). It was the most combined points for Butler and Jamison in their four seasons together in Washington.
Tonight at Atlanta (29-21) and Wednesday night at Charlotte (19-31), the former All-Stars will try to duplicate the formula as the Wizards seek to enter the break on a high note.
“We’ll just try to sustain what we got going,” said Butler. “That was a good, quality win for us last night. We just gotta ride that momentum. We’re due for a winning streak.”
