Bosh spoils Washington's final game at home

April 13, 10:32 PMWashington Wizards ExaminerGeorge Panagakos

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Chris Bosh led the Raptors with hustle on the boards tonight,
but the Olympian's clutch three pointer in the last seconds of
the game will be the brightest highlight (AP Photo/Nick Wass).

The Washington Wizards committed 24 team turnovers and blew a 13 point lead in the second half in a 97-96 home loss to the Toronto Raptors tonight.  Chris Bosh nailed an unlikely three to give Toronto the lead with only 9.3 seconds left in the game, and an unsuccessful drive by Caron Butler in the closing seconds resulted in a jump ball with only 0.1 seconds left on the game clock.  Butler led Washington with 28 points and 9 rebounds in the loss.

After an early start for Toronto, Washington came back swinging and by half each team held near identical numbers on the stat sheet, tied 53 all and both teams shooting 50% on 21-42 shooting.  Eerie.

Washington came back on the wings of some short but productive minutes from JaVale McGee, whose presence in the paint and high energy gazelle-like sprinting helped the Wizards ease into the fast break.

In the second half, Washington continued to find ways of reaching fast break opportunities, and while Toronto led early by as much as 14, Washington would find themselves up by as many as 13. 

The Wizards defense, after not picking up a single block in the first half, had a season-high 12 blocks tonight in the second half alone, which broke their last game record this season of 11 on the game last Friday in Toronto. 

Most importantly, Toronto was missing their three point opportunities.  In fact, after going 3-for-8 in the first half, the Raptors went a dismal 1-for-9 in the second from beyond the perimeter.  Of course, that one shot in the second half, by none other than Bosh, was the one that counted the most on the night, and highlights an area of Washington's team game they will need to improve upon come next season.  Will a coaching change get it done?  More on that a little later.

In the loss, Antawn Jamison had 23 points and 7 rebounds, including 13 points in the second quarter.  Butler picked up where Jamison left off with 14 points in the third quarter,  but Jamison had to leave early due to foul trouble.  When Jamison came back to start the fourth, he somehow tweaked his ankle in what seemed to be an injury he favored before the game during warm-ups, and he left to the locker room and would not come back.  Jamison was diagnosed as having a "sprained sore right ankle."

Off the bench, JaVale McGee chipped in 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 15 minutes, while Nick Young contributed 6 points and 2 big blocks.  If Young can continue to play that kind of defense consistently, Washington will very well be a different team next season.  I also have to mention a stat started by the Comcast SportsNet crew, as they credited McGee "3 salutes" on the night.  The young fella began his salute mantra after nice plays when President Barack Obama came to town late last February, and since then it has been McGee's signature.

The Wizards will pack it up and head to Boston to challenge the Celtics on Wednesday, and I'll take a look at Jamison to see what his status will be as Washington looks to end their season.

Rumor Mill
Gilbert Arenas was a DNP tonight and it is also uncertain whether he will play against Boston on Wednesday.  And will Flip Saunders be the Wizards new head coach next season?  Looks like it.  But will the offensively-minded coach be the right fit when Washington, despite their season-high blocks tonight, have suffered the most on the defensive end?


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