Wizards beat undermanned Cavs in homecourt rout

Jamison (right) defends against the Cavs' Ilgauskas, who
started last night in place of the injured Shaquille O'Neal.
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The Washington Wizards broke a six-game losing skid and put an end to the Cleveland Cavaliers' five-game winning streak last night with a 108-91 homecourt rout.  Antawn Jamison looked fresh in his season debut with 31 points and 10 rebounds while LeBron James scored 34 for the undermanned Cavs.

In last night's reversal of fortune, Washington's victory over Cleveland mirrored the first contest between the rivals this season.  The visiting team, in this case Cleveland, came in with a huge first quarter only to be routed by the home team, in this case Washington, over the second half of play.

While Cleveland led by as many as 17 in the first half, Washington would end up leading by as many as 20 in the second.  LeBron James led the Cavs with 9 points and 7 assists in the first quarter, and it looked like Cleveland was going to run away.  Despite Washington's team field goal percentage of 31.1% to Cleveland's 50% by halftime, Washington hung around due to the efforts of Mike Miller, who had 11 points by half, and Antawn Jamison, who, by the end of two quarters, had already patched together a line of 21 points and 8 rebounds.  Jamison also fell 6 seconds shy of playing the full first half last night, a strategy Wizards Head Coach Flip Saunders commented on after the game. 

(Jamison is) as professional as you can get ... before the game we were talking about him, and I said, is he limited on minutes?  And I said no, I said I probably won't play him 48, but then I looked at halftime and he played 23 minutes and 54 seconds so I was pretty close ... but I was glad that we were able to get a run in the fourth quarter and he was able to get some quality rest time."

For Coach Saunders and the Wizards, a team that has been lacking offensive integrity, Jamison gave the Wizards more than a win last night, he gave the team an example to follow.  Flip rewards players who play well during their minutes, and will often extend the minutes of whomever is hot, such as DeShawn Stevenson's third quarter role of guarding James which stretched into the fourth quarter. Bottom line to the bottom of the bench, if you play with heart and hustle, you're going to go far on this Wizards team.

Speaking of heart, Jamison suffered a right shoulder dislocation while battling the Cavs' Zydrunas Ilgauskas during the preseason, which added another ripple to the rivalry scheme even though the injury was a freak occurrence and not something Big Z did with malice or intent.  Even so, Jamison approached last night's game with some hesitation.  On his first drive against against Ilgauskas, Jamison used his left hand rather than his right to reach the basket, yet as the game progressed, Jamison's confidence improved, and he would later take Big Z with the right hand as well.  Post game, Jamison admitted how Ilgauskas was on his mind.

When I see (Ilgauskas) that's when I think about that right hand so I'ma use that left as much as possible, but, you know it's hard to deal with because it was a fluke play, just going in trying to foul him, those are the kind of things that are hard to explain."

Since Cleveland had no Shaquille O'Neal or Anderson Varejao last night, Jamison and the Wizards got to see a lot of Ilgauskas.  Washington had no Fabricio Oberto (tweaked hamstring) and Randy Foye played only four minutes coming off an ankle sprain, but on paper, Cleveland had the clear disadvantage last night due to injuries.  Shaq scored 21 points the last time the two teams met and Varejao chipped in 10 points and secured 10 rebounds.  That's a lot to lose if you're the Cavs.

However, a win is a win, and the good news for Washington, given their strange schedule this season, is they enter a mini West Coast road trip this Friday and Saturday with a near full roster.  And against the Oklahoma City Thunder tomorrow, and the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, Washington will need a full roster.  Jamison says his shoulder injury is long behind him, and his numbers sure proved that post game statement.  Gilbert Arenas has been solid, and is not turning the ball over as frequently as he was a few games ago.  One reason for that change is the addition of Earl "The Squirrel" Boykins, who has provided a huge spark off the bench at point guard, allowing Arenas to relax at times.  As Caron Butler said post game last night, the team will indeed take time to celebrate this one, then get back to business as they try to improve upon their now 3-7 season record.  And if the Wizards can limit LeBron to 6 points and 0 assists in the fourth quarter, and frustrate The King into committing his first technical foul of the season, Washington should have high hopes as they tackle Kevin Durant in Oklahoma.

More on last night's game:
DC Sports Examiner: Wizards defeat Cavaliers - Jamison scores 31 in return

[ Recap ] [ Game Shots ] [ Post Game Interviews ]

 
A few words on NBA 2K10 for Wii
After two largely unsuccessful years of NBA Live, NBA 2K10 gives Wii owners a reason to play basketball.  The Wii-mote is no where near perfected, and when you shoot the ball at first you have to be careful not to smack yourself in the face with the cord that extends to the Nunchuk accessory.  However, you can buy a classic controller, which is compatible with 2K10 (does not work with gamecube controllers unfortunately).

The game ran a bit slow for me at first, and while I ran around as Gilbert Arenas on a practice court, Gil looks a lot slower than he does in person.  However, 2K10 is about the most customizable baller I've ever seen.  Anything in the game can be changed, from game speed, to injury severity (set that to 100 if you're a true Wizards fan), to individual player shooting tendencies (whether a guy will pop a J or pass it out), and I haven't even gotten the game Online yet to play against other Wii ballers.

I did, however, create an Earl Boykins (my nick is GvP) in the 2K Share, until 2K creates one (if they will), and you can edit him as you see fit.  Some things couldn't be fine tuned, like for example, Boykins weighs less than 155 lbs but the game doesn't let you go under 5'3" or 155 lbs (max height is 7'6").  However, while you can bring created players online, those created players are limited by skill points, so you won't be online with a bunch of 7'6" guys filled out with 99s in all stats.

Quick assessment: get this game.  I'll have a full review on Monday.  Have anything you want me to check out specifically?  Write me a comment and I'll check it out.

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