For the past month, the Wizards have shown little of the effects of their depleted state. Wednesday night at Verizon Center, however, the Wizards finally played like a team with four significant players out of the lineup.
Running out of gas in the final four minutes, after staging a stirring second-half rally, the Wizards fell to Chicago, 95-84, before 14,792.
The play of forward Caron Butler belied his recent illness as he registered the second triple-double of his career (29 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) and led Washington back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit.
But in the closing minutes, Chicago (9-14) went on a 12-0 run behind guard Ben Gordon (22 points, 6 assists) and forward Luol Deng (20 points).
“It’s always tough to lose,” said Butler. “You put so much out there, especially the last few days, having to fill in [in practice] without myself and Antawn [Jamison].”
After Tuesday night’s loss to the Lakers, Chicago looked like the tired team in the first quarter as Washington, playing on three days’ rest, raced to a 27-14 lead behind Jamison (24 points, 12 rebounds). But the Bulls dominated the next 19 minutes, crashing the boards, beating the Wizards down the floor, and out-scoring them 41-15, to take a 55-42 lead in the third period.
“We did an excellent job in the first quarter, moving the ball and getting the shots we wanted,” said Jamison. “Second quarter was the complete opposite. We took a lot of jump shots. A lot of them went in and out, but we can’t let that affect the way we play defense.”
Butler sparked the comeback with back-to-back 3-pointers, followed by a quick pass to a cutting Jamison for a 3-point play that cut the Bulls’ lead to 57-55. In the end, however, Jamison and Butler had little help as no other Wizard scored in double figures.
Game Notes
» Starting guard Nick Young hit 1 of 10 shots, scored three points and had no assists in 24 minutes.
» Eddie Jordan stuck to an eight-man rotation as Dominic McGuire and newly-acquired point guard Mike Wilks did not play.
» Chicago reserves Tyrus Thomas (14 points) and Aaron Gray (10 points) were key as the Bulls’ bench out-scored Washington’s 31-12.
