That's what happens with an old team. Haywood and Blatche are a good match for KG.

I would love a life size poster of it.

...the Patriots!

BTW, I can't think of a more polar opposite to Caron than the man (sorry, child) on the other side of the trade - Kwame.  

Ernie is a genius.

The same reaction as everybody else ... WOW.  What. A. Game.  Caron Butler is amazing ... he took over in the 4th quarter and absolutely willed the team to win.  Did you see the shot in the huddle during one of the last time outs.  Caron was calling out everyone and demanding they show the will to win.  Again the Wiz won without being able to shoot.  Antawn missed a ton of inside shots that are normally money for him.  At this point its about the D ... defense and desire.  All of the sudden, the Wiz have it in spades.  Things are just going to get tougher with the schedule, but you've got to love their play of the last couple weeks.  Not winning because they are shooting great and outscoring teams, they're winning because they are the tougher team.  Did you ever think you'd say that about the Wizards?  I hope Gil is watching and thinking about his role on this team.  I believe he is and will adapt ... Gil may play the clown, but he's nobody's fool and realizes that the real love and longterm cash goes to players who win.  If he comes back and fits to the team now, we are going to be monsters in May(and dare we even think it, June?)!

I've only been following the team since the Jordan/Kwame era, but I honestly cannot think of a win this big from this squad.  DeShawn called them out in the last game.  The best team in the league, with rest, at home, with a chip on their shoulder.  And with a 14-point lead halfway through the 4th.  Really, when was the last time the team had a win this big?

And as impressed as I was with Caron, I was a lot more impressed with the defense.  Down by one with less than a minute left, the only shot the Celtics were able to put up was a looong three by KG.  I'll grant that they're getting ground down a bit, but still, our problem has always been that trading buckets can only get you so far.  This was just an outstanding defensive effort.

In the past few weeks, we've seen the Wizards blow out the bad teams, play tough defense, and win close ones against good teams.  What more can we really ask for?

Caron is a true franchise player in the middle of blooming. This is his true breakout year as an allaround player. What a great young leader/franchise player to have.

We showed so much poise tonight. So much heart, never-say-die..... playing with so much confidence. Many teams wouldve just packed it in and quit being down by 14 in Boston midway thru the 4th............... not the Wizards.

I have total faith in every single phase of this team right now (And its been that way for about 3 weeks now.).... very well coached, unselfish, great chemistry, playing with a ton of confidence on both ends. They follow the fight of their leader (Caron) and follow him with defensive effort and unselfish offense..... our ball movement is so great with AD stabilizing the PG spot, we dont turn the ball over, everyone is having fun and playing hard because htey know theyll be involved in the offense, we have good inside play, depth, shooters, defenders, rebounding, a very very good 2nd option in Jamison, and a young stud as our main man with Caron..............

Wow. Awesome win tonight. I stand by my "blazer-like run" prediction 100%.

Is the toughness. How many times did the Celts try to bully the Wiz... Perkins, Garnett all of them, tried desperately to physically intimidate the Wiz, bumping after plays, cheap shots etc etc... and we just took it in stride. You ever stand up to a bully? They normally wilt when it happens and you could see it in the Celts eyes when we just kept sticking around and sticking around and they didnt know what to do once we took the lead back for good.

Much impressed and very proud of my squad.

What an awesome win. I only got to see the last 4 minutes, and as bitter as I am about missing the first 44, I'm really grateful I got to see what I did. I'm just giddy as a schoolgirl. We were down 77-70 when I tuned in, and what happened from there was simply magic.

First, Caron was a total badass. Billy nailed it -- Tuff Juice is emerging as a franchise player right before our eyes. Not only did he put the team entirely on his back in the final minute offensively, but he pulled down huge, game-clinching rebounds in both Celtics wins, and you can see his vocal leadership during timeouts and stoppages. He is the kind of player who leads winning teams. And to think that we got him in exchange for Kwame. It's like getting a case of Guinness in exchange for a cup of warm spit.

Second, the whole team pitched in. Haywood cutting off the pick and roll, then hustling back to harass KG's shot in the last 30 seconds (and throwing down a nice dunk too); DeShawn hitting a massive three and playing his usual Locksmith defense; Jamison with ANOTHER double-double and hitting a big shot over Ray Allen; AD with 9 assisteses and one turnover. Heck, Blatche came off the bench to hand out two rejection slips -- he's the best bench shotblocker in the league, so don't try to take it in there, OK?!?!?

And let's talk about Dave Hopla. Green Bandwagon nailed it in giving him props. We shot 90 percent from the line in each of the three wins in this streak. If we shoot the league average, each of those games is very different.

Whew. I think I'm hyperventilating, and the game's been over for 14 hours.

Finally, I hope we don't suffer a letdown tonight. The Knicks are playing better and might win even if we don't play poorly, but if there's one team I can't stand handing a game to, it's the goddamn Knicks.

It rarely lifted off the floor during the 19-5 fourth. I think the BAAAAAAHston fans were actually chanting "MVP" for the juice.

We definitely need to keep this going at MSG, but these past 2 wins have made me realize how wrong I've been about several players on this team. So, no matter what happens against the Knicks and beyond, I owe the following people a big "I'm sorry.":

• To Deshawn, for calling him a waste of space and a shooting guard who can't shoot. DS is playing like a madman on O and D. His 3-ball is absolutely money and his decision making has turned from haphazard to solid these past couple of weeks.
  
• To Brendan Haywood, for saying "I don't know if I can handle another season with him at center." His improvement has been covered in other posts, but his D on Garnett these past 2 games has been special.
  
• To Antawn Jamison, for calling him a weak, washed-up schuckster. Even when he was missing shots, Jamison was playing harder than anybody on the floor. His rebounding was key in both games. Plus, when EJ went small w/ the Wiz down by 1 with 24 secs left, Garnett had to guard Jamison. KG was afraid to leave AJ for a split second, and that's all Butler needed to get to the hoop.
  
• To Randy Ayers, for calling him useless. I don't think we've played defense like this since Wes was coach. At times, I couldn't tell if they were Wiz players on D or hounds unleashed.
  
• To Eddie Jordan, for doubting his offensive philosophy. I always thought EJ's Princeton-style offense schtick was overrated and that the Wiz just had talented offensive players. But the true test of an offense is not always points per game, but a team's ability to score when they absolutely have to. In both Boston games, the Wiz were aggressive, attacking, and trusting down the stretch, all without their supposed "best" player. That's A-1 solid coaching right there.

With the egg off my face, it's time to start lookng forward to tonight's game. Our young guys off the bench are gonna need to be ready. No matter how they were acting in the post game locker room (Wizard's Insider said they were acting calm and collected),our starters must be spent emotionally and physically.