Wizards Starting to Roll
Butler Scores 29 In 3rd Straight Win: Wizards 105, Timberwolves 89

By Ivan Carter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 17, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 16 -- When Gilbert Arenas stole the basketball from Rashad McCants, raced the other way and threw a perfect alley-oop pass to Andray Blatche for an emphatic dunk with just more than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter Friday night, fans began filing out of Target Center and the Washington Wizards started celebrating a pair of rare feats.

A 105-89 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a seven-game losing streak in the building Kevin Garnett once called home and also gave the Wizards (3-5) a three-game winning streak for the first time since early last March.

"The Ticket [Garnett] wasn't here and we got a win," said Arenas, who scored nine of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. "It's a little different around here these days."

After trailing by 12 midway through the third quarter, the Wizards steadily chipped away at the deficit and then blew the game open with a 14-3 fourth-quarter run that began with a mid-range jump shot by Caron Butler, three consecutive jump shots by Arenas, free throws by Butler and Arenas and, finally, an offensive rebound and put-back layup by Brendan Haywood with 4 minutes 6 seconds remaining.

The run seemed to drain the Timberwolves (1-6) of the energy they displayed through three quarters and the Wizards then put the game away with a series of sensational plays that included the Arenas alley-oop pass to Blatche.

Butler finished with a season-high 29 points along with eight rebounds. Darius Songaila came off the bench to contribute 10 points and five rebounds and Haywood (eight points, 11 rebounds) narrowly missed his sixth double-double of the season.

It mattered little to the Wizards that all of those things came against a youthful Timberwolves team that clearly lacks an identity following the trade that sent Garnett to the Boston Celtics over the summer.

The big fourth-quarter run happened because the Wizards made shots, cranked up the defensive pressure, but the Timberwolves also folded the way bad teams so often do down the stretch of close games.

After taking a 51-47 lead into halftime and pushing the advantage to 68-56 on a McCants three-pointer with 6:27 left in the third, the Timberwolves forced shots, began giving up wide-open shots and started turning the ball over.

"You could see the life drain right out of them," Haywood said. "They kept talking about it's not over, it's not over. But after that, they knew it was over."

The more veteran Wizards initiated the collapse by cranking up their energy, some of which came from bench players who waved towels and gave out chest-bumps during and after the big run.

"When you go on the road, you've got 10,000 or 15,000 people against you so we need those cheers and we need that energy," said Butler, who has been the team's most consistent performer. "We've only got 15 people and we need everyone to get that boost we need."

One common trend in the three-game winning streak, which began with a victory at Atlanta on Sunday and continued with a home win over Indiana on Wednesday, has been excellent starts.

The Wizards have gone into the second quarter with a lead in all three games and the sound starts have allowed them to weather the inevitable runs made by an opponent. A running jump shot by DeShawn Stevenson gave Washington a 12-4 lead and the advantage stretched to 26-15 on an Arenas three-pointer.

Behind Antoine Walker, who was traded from Miami to Minnesota right before the season, the Timberwolves outscored the Wizards, 27-15, in the second quarter. However, once three-point shots stopped dropping and the Wizards cranked up the pressure at both ends of the court, the Timberwolves cracked.

"Our defense fed off of each possession and then Gilbert started hitting shots and we just kind of got rolling from there," Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said. "To win on the road, that camaraderie can really help you. You have to help yourselves and tonight, we got the energy we needed and we came together. It was good to be a part of that."