Washington, DC–
Talk about scratching for a victory.. the Wizards finally were able to do so and in the fourth quarter at that against a Gerald Wallace-less Bobcats team. The Wizards who needed all of the fourth quarter to finally control the see-saw game and take hold of a 110-95 victory will take one any way they can before heading back out on the road.
Washington again got another hard nosed game from Antwan Jamison( 22 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists) and DeShawn Stevenson 20 points, 4 of 7 of those 20 coming from long range helping fuel the fourth quarter run.
“We’ve been competitive without those guys for as long as those guys have been out,” Jamison said. “We’ve been in games — last-second shots, last minute of the game, we just haven’t gotten it done. When they do get back, we have to find a way to get some chemistry.”
Washington seemed ot have things in control when they led 70-69 with 3:33 to play in the third quarter and even mounted a nice 14-2 run, but the pesky Bobcats behind Jason Richardson (25 points) cut the lead to five points by the end the third.
The run gave the Wizards an 84-71 lead with 10:53 remaining and behind the hot shooting by Stevenson, the Wizards took the momentum away from the Bobcats.
Charlotte had one more chance to get back in the game when the Wizards led 95-87 with 4:41 left, but again Stevenson put a dagger in their night as he hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Wizards a 101-87 lead they would not relinquish.
Many of the Bobcats players stepped up in the absence of Wallace, including a strong fourth quarter by Emeka Okafor (17 points 13 rebounds) but it was just not enough to stop the hot shooters for the Wizards.
“I think in the second half, they came out wanting the game a little bit more than us,” Richardson said. “We had some defensive breakdowns, but we played a pretty tough game today.”
Wizards Notes:
The Wizards continue to suffer set backs with both Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. Butler has been listed as day to day for the past week does not have a timetable for his return. He may return on this road trip, but it is looking more unlikely. Arenas who originally had targeted a March 2nd return is more than likely not going to make that date and could possibly sit out the remainder of the season for the best interest of proper healing and to avoid injury at the start of next season.
