Wizards 108, Cavaliers 91
The five guys on the floor that put it away – that made the decisive run to end a six-game Wizards losing streak that had begun in Cleveland 15 days earlier, that frustrated Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown and LeBron James both into technical fouls, that earned the deserved standing ovation from the sellout crowd at Verizon Center in the final minute – were not the ones that might have been expected.
But Washington’s newfound depth played a huge role in the 108-91 victory that snapped a five-game winning streak for the Cavaliers (8-4), and it gave rise to the notion that the Wizards (3-7) may still fulfill the high expectations they had entering the season.
“This is what we envisioned at the beginning of the season, during training camp, when everyone was healthy,” said Gilbert Arenas. “This is the kind of performance and the kind of play that we thought we were capable of.”
Antawn Jamison had 31 points and ten rebounds in his season debut after a month layoff due to a shoulder injury, but only three came in the fourth quarter. Down the stretch, Jamison and Arenas both sat as reserve point guard Earl Boykins (9 points, 3 assists, all in the fourth) controlled the game and DeShawn Stevenson took care of shutting down James.
Stevenson allowed James just six of his game-high 34 points in the final period, tying him up with a blocked shot on a fast break with three minutes, 22 seconds, a play that ended with Caron Butler alone at the free throw line after James argued the call. James then responded with two huge dunks with the game basically decided, only to injure his left wrist on the first.
“He came in very professional and played ‘meat and potato’ basketball,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders of Stevenson. “He didn’t give them any antics. He just put his nose into it and played solid defense.”
Alongside the hustle of Mike Miller (17 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and Andray Blatche (6 points, 2 steals), Boykins drew foul after foul to take Mo Williams (6 points, 2-for-13 from the field) out of his rhythm, and Butler scored 13 of his 19 points in the period, stretching what had been a three-point lead at the end of the third to as much as 20.
The first appearance of the year by Washington’s big three — Arenas, Butler, and Jamison — didn’t start with the same resolve despite Jamison quickly reestablishing his rhythm with 13 first-quarter points.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Jamison. “It was my home opener, my season opener.”
But the Cavaliers were sharper out of the gate, reeling off eight buckets in a row, including three wide-open jumpers from known perimeter threat Zydrunas Ilgauskas (10 points), to take an 18-12 lead. Cleveland dished out assists on 13 of its 14 first-quarter baskets, including seven of James’ nine in the game. He also had nine points in the quarter, the final two spinning Blatche out of his shorts and throwing down to make it 30-20.
After shooting 36 percent in the first quarter, the Wizards buried themselves further in the second, missing their first eight shots. The Cavaliers blocked four of them, with 6-foot-9 Jamison getting rejected by 6-3 Delonte West before scoring Washington’s first points of the period.
But down, 41-24, Miller sparked a 12-0 run with two 3-pointers. Going 8-for-8 from the line, Washington closed to within three, 45-42, but James quashed the momentum with a spin move on the baseline that had the Wizards clamoring for a travel but resulted in two free throws.
The third quarter belonged to Arenas (18 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds), who tried to shoot himself out of his slump with 14 points on 13 shots in the quarter. But it was his steal from Anthony Parker, leading to a fast break finish by Miller, that gave Washington the lead, 54-53, for the first time since the first quarter.
James hit a trio of ever deeper threes to put Cleveland back in front, 66-60, but an Arenas jumper, an emotional three-point play for Jamison and two more points at the line by Arenas reclaimed the advantage for good.
“Our energy level in the second half was definitely better,” said Miller. “We have to do that from the jump though. It’s going to make things tough when you’re doing that against good teams, like Cleveland, and we’ve done it a couple times this year already. We’ve got to be ready to play from the beginning.”
