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A Four-Gone Conclusion
Antawn Jamison, who carried the Wizards all series, walks off the court for the final time of the 2006-07 season after scoring a team-high 31 points in a Game 4 loss at Verizon Center.
(Jonathan Newton - The Post)
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"They hit big shots in the fourth quarter and we didn't," said Daniels, who averaged 11.8 assists during the series. "They took our best shot, our runs, and responded with ones of their own."
The game's final minutes played out in a fashion similar to several close losses suffered by the Wizards since all-stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler went down with season-ending injuries in early April.
Competitive in every game but one -- a brutal 33-point home loss to the Chicago Bulls on April 15 -- the Wizards nonetheless went 2-12 after Butler broke a bone in his right hand on April 1.
For the first time all series, the Wizards held a halftime lead last night (47-44), and Jamison and Jarvis Hayes opened the third quarter by making consecutive three-pointers. But Washington missed its next four shots, turned over the ball three times and squandered an opportunity to open up a big lead.
Guard DeShawn Stevenson capped a nightmarish offensive series by missing all eight of his shots and scoring zero points in 22 minutes. Stevenson, a 46.1 percent shooter during the regular season, shot 19.6 percent in the series and made only 3 of 19 three-point attempts.
"It was frustrating for me," Stevenson said. "To make shots all season and then come into the playoffs and want to play at a high level and have that happen is frustrating. I went through a bad shooting slump at the worst time."
Wizards center Brendan Haywood, who did not record a point or a rebound in 10 minutes of action in Game 3, did not get off the bench last night as Coach Eddie Jordan instead turned to Calvin Booth as his first center off the bench.
Haywood has been frustrated by his inconsistent playing time since Jordan replaced him as a starter on April 1. He left the bench area before the buzzer sounded and was the first Wizard out of the locker room. Oddly, the nameplate above Haywood's locker stall already was missing when reporters filed in for postgame comments.
While Haywood's departure suggested that his future as a Wizard could be up in the air, several players lobbied to keep the team's core group together and make another run when everyone returns healthy in the fall.
"Talking to Gilbert and Caron after the game, guys are really focused and ready to get started now," Jamison said. "This organization is going to do everything it can to make us better, but I really think it needs to keep these core guys together because we have an opportunity to do something special."
