Wizards, 88-83 (final)

By Gary Dzen

January 14, 2008

2 minutes to read

This one was gritty. It was grimy. To be honest, it kind of stunk.

Personal opinions aside, how else do you describe a basketball game in which neither team really asserted itself? Chalk it up to good defense, but there was certainly some bad offense mixed in.

The Wizards shot poorly from the field all game (39 percent), yet they never really seemed to be out of contention. The Celtics stayed close in both rebounding and turnovers, yet even with Washington shooting poorly they never opened the game up.

After being back-and-forth the whole game, the Celtics clawed their way to a lead late in the fourth quarter. Up 70-63, Paul Pierce drove the lane for a dunk to put the Celtics up nine. Eddie House nailed a three-pointer on the next possession to give Boston a 12-point lead with 7:13 to play.

But Washington never went away, and the Wiz cut the lead to five on a Brendan Haywood dunk with 2:13 remaining. The Wizards tied it at 79 on a DeShawn Stevenson three-pointer with 1:08 left.

On Boston’s next possession, Pierce drove but missed a floater. Kevin Garnett tipped the ball twice, and his second-effort found the hole and gave the Celtics an 81-79 lead with 51.5 seconds to play.

Caron Butler answered right back, driving the lane for a lay-up while also getting fouled. He would hit the free throw to put Washington up by one.

Garnett missed a three-pointer on the next possession, but Pierce got the rebound and was fouled by Butler. He made both to put the Celtics up 83-32 with 25.9 seconds left.

Butler redeemed himself for the foul by driving the lane for a lay-up with 19.6 seconds left. The Wizards were up, 84-83.

Garnett missed a turnaround jumper on the next possession, and Eddie House fouled Butler with 8.3 seconds to play. Butler made both to put Washington up three.

In a final desperate attempt, Ray Allen missed an off-balance three-pointer and the game was over.

The Wizards outscored the Celtics 25-6 to end the game.

Before the game, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he expected to see an intense contest because these teams played each other on Saturday. In a way he was right: Nothing came easy.

Washington’s high scorer, Butler mustered 21 points and 6 rebounds. The Wizards had four players (Antawn Jamison, Butler, Brendan Haywood, and Stevenson) in double-figures.

Garnett led the Celtics with 23 points, 6 assists, and 9 rebounds. After appearing on the Jumbotron to tell fans it was the fourth quarter, Garnett came out of a timeout and pumped up the crowd in real life. His encouragement brought the crowd to its feet but also seemed to irk several Wizards players, as the game was delayed a moment as Garnett took his time walking up the court.

To be fair, the game had several highlights, including a behind-the-back dribble from Kendrick Perkins that led to an alley-oop for Garnett. In the second half, Tony Allen finished off an emphatic dunk with a flurry of emotion, telling everyone with his body language, “I’m back.”