The double team worked. Someone other than Gilbert Arenas had to take the final shot.
But the strategy failed. This time, Caron Butler dunked home a pass from a driving DeShawn Stevenson with 2.2 seconds left, giving the Wizards (22-16) a 99-98 win over visiting New York.
Butler stood atop the scorer’s table after the buzzer sounded, raising his fists in the air to a raucous crowd. He finished with a team-high 27 points and a career-best 10 assists. Arenas, who has hit two buzzer-beaters to win games, was held to 16 points as the Knicks doubled him often.
“We have other guys on this team who can play basketball,” Butler said.
On the final play, Arenas passed to Antawn Jamison on the right side; he drove to the middle and kicked it to Stevenson on the left wing. Stevenson drove and dished inside to Butler.
“It’s gonna be hard to [double team me],” Arenas said. “We have other people who can score and we proved it tonight.”
Former Wizard big man Jeffries still looking for his rhythm in New York
He left a contending team for one struggling to be average. He missed time with an injury and then a suspension.
Jared Jeffries first year away from the Wizards has not unfolded the way he’d hoped. Not that he regrets leaving.
“I signed there because I thought it would be a good situation for me,” said Jeffries before Wednesday night’s game; it was his first return to the Verizon Center, his home for four seasons with the Wizards.
He was politely booed after making his first basket in the first quarter and again after the second. But he didn’t think there were any bad feelings when he left. The Wizards opted not to match the five-year, $30-million offer New York gave him, instead putting that money toward signing Darius Songaila.
“It’s not like anything was said that was negative [when he left],” said Jeffries.
The negative part has been his start with the Knicks. Jeffries missed four games for his role in a brawl with Denver in December and missed 22 games with a broken wrist. In 13 games before Wednesday — including 12 starts — Jeffries was scoring 5.6 points a game, a half-point below his career average, and grabbing 5.4 rebounds. Against the Wizards, he scored six points and collected four rebounds.
As in Washington, Jeffries’ role is to be a versatile big man at 6-foot-11 and a defensive standout. “I’m still looking for [his rhythm],” Jeffries said. “It’s a new situation, the injury, the suspension. It’s been difficult.”
As for his old teammate, Gilbert Arenas, Jeffries agrees that he is a strong MVP candidate.
“The way he’s been playing, you can’t fight anything they say about him,” Jeffries said. “He’s really carrying his team right now. They’re one of the top teams in the conference so you have to give him consideration. … He makes them a very hard team to beat.” — John Keim
