Center Brendan Haywood scrunched up his face, nostrils flaring as he stomped down the court, pumping his fists. With each booming step, Haywood looked to his left, then to his right, perhaps trying to find those who may have doubted that he would ever become a fourth-quarter factor for the Washington Wizards.
"He's sort of like me," Wizards forward Antawn Jamison said. Haywood "likes to prove people wrong."
Wizards center Brendan Haywood is in the right place to give the Wizards a 106-104 win over New York.
(Toni L. Sandys - The Washington Post)
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Haywood had just given the Wizards a 106-104 victory against the New York Knicks when he rebounded a Gilbert Arenas shot and got fouled as he gently laid the ball into the hoop with 7.1 seconds left.
"I said the whole year, I wanted to be in there in the fourth," said Haywood, who often sat in favor of Kwame Brown and Etan Thomas in the crunch time last season. "Might as well do something when you're in there."
The Wizards (11-6) have won eight of their past 10 games and they ended a five-game losing streak against the Knicks before 16,702 at MCI Center. All five starters scored in double figures for the Wizards, with Jamison scoring 25 points with 13 rebounds and a career-high tying seven assists.
"I was kind of impressed with seven assists. I was trying to get a triple-double, but there in the fourth quarter, they needed me to score," said Jamison, who scored nine points in the final period as the Wizards overcame an eight-point deficit.
Haywood recorded his third double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds. In the first half, Haywood resembled another No. 33 who used to play for the Knicks -- Patrick Ewing -- scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including an impressive tomahawk slam in the lane. Haywood practically vanished offensively in second half, missing a rebound tip and turning his back when Arenas tried to feed him in the lane, leading to a turnover.
Then, after Jamison hit a floater to bring the Wizards within 104-103 with 1 minute 21 seconds left, Haywood was fouled and missed two free throws.
"For a quick 10 seconds, I was really hurt," Haywood said. "I thought I let the team down."
Said Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan: "I didn't want to talk to him, so I don't know how dejected he was. But there was some game left to be played. He really made up for it."
Haywood kept his head in the game, blocking a shot by Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury (18 points, seven assists) on the next trip down -- a shot the Knicks felt should have been called for goaltending -- and standing in the right place to lift the Wizards on top. After another Marbury miss with 31.8 seconds left, Arenas worked down the clock, drove in on Knicks guard Jamal Crawford and threw up a difficult shot that bounded around the rim. "I thought it was in," Arenas said.
But the ball rolled out and Knicks forward Tim Thomas slapped it off the glass and Haywood's eyes lit up as he charged in. For good measure, Haywood made the free throw, after missing 7 of his first 10 attempts from the foul line.
"It was great that I was able to have a play where I was able to get the and-one and hit the free throw," said Haywood, who also had a huge dunk in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
Haywood wasn't done. He then forced Knicks center Nazr Mohammed (20 points, 11 rebounds) into missing a tough, high-arching shot.
"I hesitated a little bit because I was playing against a shot blocker," Mohammed said. Then, Knicks forward Kurt Thomas missed a short jumper at the buzzer, leading to all out pandemonium. Haywood slapped five with his teammates and Arenas tossed his jersey into the stands, then leaped into the arms of Wizards assistant Phil Hubbard.
"If he didn't catch me, I was going to fall on" Hubbard, said Arenas, who had 20 points and seven assists, "and mess up his hip."
The Wizards trailed by 97-89 with 6:51 left the fourth quarter but scored 10 consecutive points over the next three minutes. Arenas got the run started with steals on consecutive trips, finding Larry Hughes (18 points, nine assists) for a layup and then having a fast-break dunk of his own. "We got a key steal and from there it got contagious," Arenas said.
Arenas then hit a three-pointer to bring the Wizards within one and Jamison gave the Wizards their first lead of the second half when he canned a three-pointer from the left baseline.
After allowing the Knicks to shoot 61.3 percent in the first three quarters, the Wizards held the Knicks (9-10) to just 32 percent shooting in the fourth period.
"I love our character," Jamison said. "No matter the situation, we always feel like we can get it done."
