A different story this season in 122-88 rout
Beware of a motivated team: especially if it’s is the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, especially if the game is on national television, and especially if you’ve beaten them three straight times.
That was the unfortunate set of circumstances that the Wizards faced Thursday at Verizon Center. To make matters worse, they were breaking in a new pair of guards – Mike James and Javaris Crittenton, acquired in a Wednesday trade.
It all added up to the Wizards’ most decisive loss this season, 122-88, one in which their usual flaws were exposed, and the power of their opponent was showcased in front of a sellout crowd of 20,173.
“They’re 21-2 for a reason,” said Wizards coach Ed Tapscott. “Mike Tyson says, ‘Everyone’s got a plan until you get punched in the mouth. Then you find out whether your plan holds or not.’ They punched us in the mouth and our plan didn’t work.”
Punching power was provided by the Celtics usual suspects. The Big Three of Paul Pierce (22 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds), Ray Allen (22 points), and Kevin Garnett (11 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists) led a balanced attack in which all five starters were in double figures.
As if that wasn’t enough, guard Eddie House (14 points) came off the bench and hit 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range. House’s bombs — three coming in an 84-second span of the fourth quarter — had the desired effect as they took the steam out of a Wizards’ third-period rally that cut a 24-point lead to 10.
“I thought the first half was some of our best basketball this season. We were great on offense and defense,” said Boston coach Doc Rivers. “In the third quarter we had a letdown. Our bench really bailed us out. Our bench was phenomenal tonight.”
Boston was fueled in part by the memory of the Wizards’ three straight wins last season. Trailing 12-11, Boston went on a 19-5 run fueled by a pair of 3-pointers by Allen and a sensational drive through traffic by point guard Rajon Rondo (11 points, 6 assists).
“This was about not giving them confidence early,” said Rondo. “We wanted to come out and make them fall back on their heels and for us to be aggressive.”
By the time new Wizard James entered, at the start of the second period, Washington was down by 15. The 6-2 guard wasn’t much help as he missed all six shots from the floor, contributing to another dismal night for the Wizards’ backcourt.
Point guard Juan Dixon (17 points, 7 assists, 4 steals) was the exception. But James, DeShawn Stevenson, and Nick Young combined to miss all 14 of their attempts from the floor.
“Offensively, we worried about missing shots instead of playing defense,” said forward Antawn Jamison (17 points). “You’re not going to win games like that in the league at all playing against a team like that the way we did.”
Butler (19 points) led Washington (4-16). But there were precious few strong individual efforts. Crittenton played the final 5:47. He had four turnovers and didn’t take a shot.
“I used the new guys just a little bit more than I expected,” said Tapscott. “They are going to have to play and now we have to go to work tomorrow and get them up to speed on things that we do.”
The final stats summed up a gruesome game. Boston out-shot Washington, 55.7 percent to 43.1 percent and out-rebounded the Wizards, 41-26. While Boston hit 8 of 15 from 3-point range, Washington made 4 of 18.
“I think you saw the best team in the league,” said Tapscott. “When you come off a thumping like that, you need a couple of hours to be upset about it before you start looking at positives.”
Up next » Wizards @ Sixers
When » Saturday, 7 / Where » Wachovia Center / TV/Radio » CSN/980 AM
Philadelphia (9-12) was struggling going into Friday’s game at Cleveland. Much was expected from the Sixers this season with the addition of free-agent F Elton Brand, who leads the team in scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (10 rpg). But Sixers SG Andre Iguodala (14.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg) has struggled offensively. PG Andre Miller (15.8 ppg, 5.8 apg) runs the show. F Thaddeus Young (13.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg) is a rapidly-developing energy player.
