Raptors 123, Wizards 118
By Ivan Carter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 31, 2007
A stunned Gilbert Arenas sat in front of his locker and tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened to the Washington Wizards, who lost, 123-118, in overtime to the Toronto Raptors at Verizon Center last night.
"I think I'm going to go home and watch 'Titanic' and see if the ship still goes down," said Arenas, whose attempt to make a layup while drawing a foul with 4.7 seconds left in overtime was thwarted by Raptors all-star Chris Bosh, who swatted away the shot. "I don't even know what to say about this one."
After leading for most of the fourth quarter, the Wizards appeared to have the game wrapped up. After Arenas (34 points on 9-of-29 shooting) made two free throws to give the Wizards a three-point lead with 3.8 seconds remaining, the Raptors were forced to inbound the ball from underneath their own basket because they were out of timeouts.
Anthony Parker's long pass lofted harmlessly in the air, was deflected and grabbed near the three-point line at the Washington end by forward Michael Ruffin.
Ruffin landed with the ball but then attempted to throw it high into the air toward the other end of the court. Instead, the ball slipped out of Ruffin's right hand and landed directly in the hands of Toronto guard Morris Peterson, who had not played the entire game.
With Caron Butler running at him, Peterson half-shot, half-heaved the ball toward the rim, releasing it just before the buzzer sounded. To the amazement of Ruffin, the Wizards, the sellout crowd and Peterson himself, the shot went in from 31 feet.
"My natural reaction was to just throw the ball in the air and let time run out but I didn't get a good throw on it and there was a little more time than I thought," Ruffin said. "When I threw it, it kind of slipped off my palm. I didn't get a good grip on it."
Obviously stunned by the way regulation ended, the Wizards were outscored 14-9 in overtime. They trailed by three with under 12 seconds remaining but Arenas, who has been clutch in crucial situations all season, missed a three-point attempt.
Antawn Jamison grabbed the offensive rebound and passed back out to Arenas, who hesitated as if thinking about taking another three-pointer before driving and trying to make a layup while drawing a foul on Bosh.
However, Bosh (37 points, 14 rebounds) slid over and swatted the shot away and Parker iced the win for Toronto with two free throws.
"I was trying to get that contact and make the layup but he got there in time to block it," said Arenas, who was 3 of 11 from three-point range and missed all four of his shots in overtime.
The loss dropped the Wizards (38-33) into sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They fell a half-game behind Miami in the Southeast Division. Miami won at Minnesota last night. Toronto (40-32) remained in third place in the East, firmly atop of the Atlantic Division.
"We just have to be tougher and stronger when we get to overtime, that's all," Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said. "It is a tough loss. We have to suck it up, hold our heads up high, do not sulk, and be men and credit your opponent. It is what it is and it happened. We have to come in [today] and prepare for our games against Milwaukee and Charlotte."
One change Jordan could be contemplating involves his starting lineup. Center Brendan Haywood made his 49th start of the season but finished with no points and four rebounds in 12 minutes.
When he was taken out after a 41-second stint at the start of the fourth period, Haywood did not hide his displeasure. He shook his head while walking to the bench, mumbling all along the way, and then angrily tossed a towel off to the side after taking a seat.
Haywood, who has totaled three points and 13 rebounds in the last four games, remained seated while his teammates huddled during a timeout and Jordan said he never considered putting him back in.
"I saw a little bit of low energy pretty much, that's about it," Jordan said. "Low energy will disallow you to do the things you need to do at the NBA level."
Jordan said he was not ready to discuss a possible lineup change in the aftermath of the loss.
"That will be in the next couple of days, not now," Jordan said.
Wizards Notes: Guard DeShawn Stevenson (19 points and 10 rebounds) had his right wrist wrapped following the game, the product of a hard fall he took while driving to the basket in overtime, but said he was fine. . . . The Wizards are 3-2 in overtime games and 15-12 in games decided by five points or less. . . . Toronto won the season series, 3-1.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.