Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Delonte West received their elementary basketball education in the schoolyards of Prince George’s County. Sunday at Verizon Center, the trio got an advanced lesson from their hometown team.
After toying with the precocious Seattle SuperSonics for three quarters, the Wizards ran away from the league’s second youngest team on their way to a 108-86 victory before 17,816.
Caron Butler (33 points, 5 assists, 4 steals), Antawn Jamison (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Antonio Daniels (13 points, 10 assists) were the catalysts as Washington (17-15) won its second straight.
“You’ve got to make the homecoming difficult for the new, young guys,” said Butler. “They make their first couple of shots and their confidence was building and the crowd was getting into it. We had to take the momentum of the game and turn it in our favor.”
The Wizards did it with defense. During a 13-0 run early in the fourth quarter, Washington limited Seattle (9-24) to three shots and forced four turnovers. Daniels ignited the run with a layup, followed with a strip of Green and a feed to Roger Mason for a dunk.
“The veterans talk about it a lot,” said Daniels. “When we get a team down, we have to step on them.”
The Wizards also got strong defense from guard DeShawn Stephenson (13 points) who harassed the 19-year-old Durant (19 points) into 7 for 21 shooting in his first game at the Verizon Center, at any level.
“Our message to DeShawn was ‘You’re like the lion after the young animal,’” said Wizards coach Eddie Jordan. “Durant is long. He’s quick. He’s lively. We said, ‘You’ve got to find his underbelly and get into him.’”
The 21-year-old Green (8 points, 4 of 13 shooting, 5 turnovers), a Georgetown alum, struggled on the familiar Verizon Center floor. The 24-year-old West (9 points, 4 assists) had his moments off the bench, sparking a second-quarter rally, along with Wally Szczerbiak (18 points), when Seattle whittled a 14-point deficit to 1.
But the second half was all Washington.
“It was frustrating because I was missing shots I normally hit, open pull-ups,” said Durant. “I didn’t envision us losing by that much, or not at all. It was great to be home. It would have been even better if we got the ‘W.’
Dishes and swishes
» Seattle, the league’s top rebounding team, out-rebounded the Wizards, 51-43 behind Nick Collison (13 points, 17 rebounds).
» Since his return from a sprained knee, Antonio Daniels has hit 17 of 25 shots from the floor (68 percent).
Up next »
Houston (17-17), 7 p.m. Tuesday at Verizon Center.
The Rockets have won four of six without top scorer Tracy McGrady (knee), who is not expected to return until later in the week.
