Jamison's Tap-In Sinks Clippers
Wizards 91, Clippers 89

By Ivan Carter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 14, 2008 2:13 AM

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13 -- The NBA's all-star weekend will feature a slam-dunk contest, a skills competition and a three-point shootout, but if the league were to ever come up with an offensive rebounding contest, Wizards all-star forward Antawn Jamison would be a favorite.

Seldom has Jamison's uncanny knack for anticipating the trajectory of a basketball off of the rim been more crucial than in the finals seconds of Wednesday night's 91-89 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

After Clippers guard Corey Maggette answered a Jamison dunk with a pair of free throws, tying the game at 89 with 20.9 seconds left, the Wizards called a timeout and set up for a final shot.

Jamison inbounded to Antonio Daniels, who worked the clock down to less than 10 seconds remaining, drove left and put up a running jumper. The shot missed but Wizards forward Darius Songaila tapped it back up to the rim, where it bounced and dropped to Jamison, who tipped it in for the game-winning basket.

Jamison, who finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, is often unorthodox in the ways he gets the ball into the basket -- whether it's with a running jump shot he releases off the wrong foot, a jump hook he shoots before leaving the ground, or on put-backs like the one that snapped Washington's eight-game losing streak Wednesday night.

"That's my game," said a smiling Jamison, who flew directly to New Orleans after the game for the weekend's all-star activities. "It's different from all of the other guys in the league but as long as it's working, and it's successful, I'm going to continue to do it. Just from being quick off my feet, I was able to go out there, get a hand on the ball and tip it back in. If I would have come back down with it, I would have run out of time."

The score came at a perfect time for the Wizards (25-27) who capped a four-game road trip that included a blowout loss at Denver on Friday, a one-point loss at Phoenix on Sunday and a crushing loss at Golden State on Monday in which they blew a 23-point first half lead.

The Wizards shot only 43.5 percent from the field and turned the ball over 16 times but had five players score in double figures and finished with a dominating 51-31 rebounding edge and a 28-14 edge in second-chance points.

The Clippers (17-33) showed plenty of resolve in coming back from a 14-point second quarter deficit by outscoring the Wizards 28-16 in the third quarter. The Wizards led 61-60 entering the fourth but the lead changed hands three times while players on both teams hit big shots.

The score was tied at 85 when Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson made an 18-foot jump shot from the wing with Maggette all over him. The Clippers answered with a Maggette 20-footer and on the next possesion, Jamison posted up, spun off of rookie Al Thornton and received a perfect pass from Brendan Haywood before throwing down a dunk, giving the Wizards an 89-87 lead with 38.6 seconds left.

Maggette then drew a foul on Songaila and made the free throws that preceeded Jamison's game-winning tip-in.

"The difference between tonight and some of these losses was that we kept running the offense and we made key plays down the stretch," said Daniels, who played the entire game after missing two games with an ankle injury and finished with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists. "The way things have been going for us, those bounces haven't been going our way. Those shots haven't gone down for us. This was a big win for us."

The Wizards improved to 2-7 on the season when playing without all-star forward Caron Butler, who missed his sixth straight game with a stained left hip flexor. Butler will sit out Sunday's all-star game and hopes to be healthy for Tuesday's home game against the New York Knicks.

Haywood added 15 points and nine rebounds, Stevenson and Andray Blatche each finished with 13 points and rookie forward Dominic McGuire eptitomized the Wizards' hustle by grabbing 12 rebounds -- seven of them offensive -- in 24 minutes. Rarely has a player so impacted a game without making a shot (McGuire was zero-for-four from the field).

"We needed the win so I just tried to come with energy," said McGuire, whose father, John McGuire, saw him live for the first time as an NBA player. "That's how I can help this team: rebound and play defense."

Thornton led the Clippers with 24 points and Maggette scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half as the Clippers made their comeback.

The Wizards led 33-19 with just under eight minutes left in the second quarter and led by 13 at the half, but the Clippers woke up in the third. They steadily chipped away and finally went ahead 60-59 on a tip-in by Aaron Williams but the Wizards led 61-60 going into the fourth after Andray Blatche answered with a short jumper in the lane.

Jordan was hopeful that Wednesday night represented the final time his team would play without core players like Butler, Daniels and veteran center Etan Thomas, who could soon be cleared to return to contact work in practice.

Three-time all-star guard Gilbert Arenas also expects to return to practice at some point after the break.

"Our team knows where we are," Jordan said before the game. "We've played well in games, we've played hard and we've done things as well as we can. We've had guys step up and play very well. Now it's time for this group to see if we can win. We've played well in some games and we've hung in against good teams so this is the last chance for this group to win because Caron's coming back, Etan's coming back and A.D. is coming back."

The Wizards weren't as hot in the first half as they were Monday night when they built a 23-point second quarter lead over Golden State, but were efficient enough to take advantage of their lethargic opponent.

After the Clippers jumped out to an early 11-4 lead, the Wizards seized control with a 14-0 run that was keyed in part by Daniels, whose penetration and led to quality shots for himself and teammates.

The Wizards led 25-17 after the opening period and continued to play well in the second when they outscored the Clippers 20-15 en route to carrying a 45-32 lead into halftime.

As he did in Monday's loss at Golden State, when he scored 18 first-half points, Haywood controlled the paint as he finished the half with 12 points and eight rebounds while outplaying his counterpart Chris Kaman (two points, four rebounds, three fouls).

The good news for the Wizards is that the losing streak did not significantly damage their playoff prospects. They will go into the all-star break in sixth-place in the Eastern Conference, two-and-a-half games ahead of the New Jersey, which may or may not have Jason Kidd after the break, suddenly surging Philadelphia, which has won five straight, and slumping Atlanta.

"It was a heck of a stretch for us, especially when we were down, but our guys stuck in there and were warriors for us," said Jordan. "DeShawn was a warrior. Antawn Jamison was a warrior. Brendan Haywood was great. We had a bunch of guys step up and that's going to help us down the road."

Wizards Notes: Arenas was with the team for the first three games of the trip but flew back to Washington Wednesday morning where he will continue rehabilitating over the break.

The team is off until Monday. Daniels described himself as "exhausted" after the game but said the ankle held up well and he expects to be at full strength after the break. Blatche, who started for Butler again, scored in double figures for the fourth time in the last five games.