The appearance of well-rested All-Star Chris Paul was an ominous sign for the Wizards, when he entered in a close game with 7 minutes, 14 seconds left, Sunday night at Verizon Center.
And on his next trip down the floor, Paul drew the defense, freeing Mike James for a driving 3-point play, pulling the New Orleans Hornets within a point.
But that was it for Paul’s foreboding presence as the Wizards scored the next 19 points. Fueled by the shooting of DeShawn Stevenson and the defense of Brendan Haywood, Washington rolled, 101-84.
With Antawn Jamsion (28 points, 9 rebounds) touching off the rally with five points, Stevenson (16 points, 5 assists) hitting two 3-pointers and Haywood ruling the lane, the Wizards ran away from one of the best teams in the Western Conference to win for the fourth time in their last five games.
“We got some stops at the rim and in the paint,” said Wizards coach Eddie Jordan. “We just got really, really tough and aggressive and physical in the paint. We got some stops, some steals, and stayed patient at the other end.”
During its dry spell, New Orleans (39-19) missed five layups, including two that were swatted by Haywood. At the other end, the Wizards scored on 10 of 12 possessions.
“This is one of the best teams in the NBA,” said Antonio Daniels, who guarded Paul. “When you play teams like the Hornets your room for error is really small. We did some good things tonight defensively.”
Credit also goes to Jordan, who has shifted Darius Songaila into the starting lineup for Andray Blatche and seemingly jump-started both of their games. Songaila (8 points) was the key man as Washington held another Hornets All-Star, David West, to 14 points on 5 of 17 shooting.
Blatche (11 points, 3 assists, 2 blocks) came off the bench and made an impact at both ends of the floor and in transition.
“Andray is playing a lot better now that he is playing the center position and some forward,” said Jordan.
