Washington surrenders five-point lead in final minute, loses 7th straight
Count President Obama and Gilbert Arenas among those who missed out on one heck of a basketball game Saturday night at Verizon Center, at least its first 47 minutes. They were better off not having to witness what happened next.
After defiantly leading streaking Miami from midway through the first quarter – including taking a five-point lead into the final half-minute – the Wizards unraveled in spectacular fashion en route to a 95-94 loss in front of their first sellout crowd of the year, allowing the Heat to score their final six points at the line and win their 12th straight game.
“We did about everything you had to do wrong to lose a game,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, whose team lost its seventh game in a row. “And they did everything right.”
Yet, the hero was nearly Josh Howard (13 points), whose first game back, after missing the last ten months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, was overshadowed by the departure of Arenas in a trade with Orlando for Rashard Lewis and the absence of the President, who backed out of going to the game despite the heavy security employed at the arena earlier in the day in anticipation of his attendance.
Howard’s short jumper gave the Wizards a 91-86 lead with 32.6 seconds left, and he hit two out of four free throws during back-to-back trips to the line to make it 93-89 with 18.4 seconds remaining.
But from there, Andray Blatche mistakenly fouled Chris Bosh (20 points, nine rebounds) behind the three-point line – from where Bosh had eight shot attempts all season – to give up two points at the line. Nick Young then lost the ball on an inbounds play and fouled James Jones, who tied the game with a pair of free throws, and Blatche fouled Dwyane Wade on a circus shot he might not have made anyway, hitting two more freebies to put the Heat in front, a lead that was preserved when Kirk Hinrich inexplicably got no call despite drawing contact from both Bosh and LeBron James in the lane on the game’s final play.
“I don’t wish I had no plays back,” said Blatche (20 points, 12 rebounds, four steals). “The game was meant to be played how it’s played. I’m not trying to take back no plays at all. I can’t go on with regrets. I’m looking to get better and make my team better. We’re going to go ahead and move forward.”
But the defeat was a blow to the Wizards (6-19), who were energetic and unselfish from the opening tip, hardly looking like they’d lost their most veteran player to a trade hours earlier. Young, starting for Arenas, matched his season-high with 30 points, and with John Wall still sidelined by right knee tendonitis, Hinrich took on the role of iron man, playing all but six seconds and finishing with 13 points and a season high-matching 12 assists.
James, coming off a triple-double the night before in New York, led the Heat with 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists, but even in a different uniform, he looked like the same player who’d been in many a battle with Washington when he was with Cleveland. Boos rained down upon him whenever he touched the ball, and his dunk total (four) was matched by airballs and ill-advised shots.
Washington forced six turnovers in the first quarter from the heavy-legged Heat, with Blatche twice swiping lazy balls from Bosh, each time feeding Young for breakaway dunks that got the crowd of 20,278 buzzing.
Blatche blindly tossed the ball over his shoulder to Al Thornton (10 points, five assists) for a slam, and Thornton fed JaVale McGee (five points, ten rebounds, four blocks) for another dunk to start off a 15-2 run that finished with the Wizards up, 25-15.
After the Heat cut Washington’s lead down to three points in the second period, a 15-foot jumper from former Bullet/Wizard Juwan Howard drew the visitors to within one. James found himself all alone after a sequence of broken plays and windmilled home a dunk that put Miami briefly back on top, 46-45, before two Blatche free throws put Washington in front again, 47-46, headed into halftime.
A 6-0 run that began with Wade’s baseline reverse slam gave Miami the lead and its biggest advantage of the night, 52-47, but that margin was quickly eliminated on McGee’s putback slam, and the Wizards led by eight early in the fourth quarter.
Washington also played physical defense, giving up few easy baskets while McGee and Hilton Armstrong both blocked Wade dunk attempts at the rim. But after committing only six turnovers in the first three quarters, the Wizards coughed up the ball seven times in the final period, allowing Miami to keep the game within reach.
“It’s hard to explain it because we played well,” said Hinrich. “We probably played as hard as we have all year, played as well together on both ends as we have all year. It felt like we should’ve won the game, and to cough it up like that, it’s hard to swallow.”
