You know the drill....
Q1
Play 1. Stevenson's guy goes over him for an oop layup....Stevenson holds his mouth. Never saw him get hit.
No goggles for Tuff Juice tonight....hope they have more of that glue on him, can't be leaking his toughness any more.
The Wizards seem to have trouble bodying up and blocking out.
9:56: DeShawn Stevenson hits an open trey....the Jazz basically dared him to do it, and the defender went way behind the screen for some reason. Utah fans were afraid of this.
On the other hand, the Jazz look like they're still trying to get used to Deron Williams being back.
Out of the timeout, Caron Butler is sporting the Oakleys and looking sweet....I'm having visions of James Worthy.
Carlos Boozer is too strong for Antawn Jamison to get around....offensive board. AJ's gotta have some help on the boards from his teammates. .
Comcast has lost the ability to show the score, time, etc.....tied at 7.
Etan Thomas gets his outlet pass picked off....I think to myself, Andray Blatche would have dribbled it. 9-7?
Butler spins in the lane and scores and a short jumper....he proceeds to throw the goggles off.
Thomas goes to set a ball screen for Antonio Daniels....Antonio passes it to him....turnover #4...nice communication guys.
AD sinks way low to help Etan on Boozer...Deron Williams trey ball. Jazz don't shoot a lot of threes, but if you're going to leave a guy wide open.....
And the score is back, Wiz down 14-11.....make that 17-11 (Butler didn't respect CJ Miles, he hit a trey, hit 8th point) with four minutes left in the quarter.
JaVale McGee checks in for Etan at the 3:37 mark (Juan Dixon in for Daniels too). The kid just comes in and makes things happen. Gets a tip off a Stevenson miss....blocks some sauce that Ronnie Price tried to bring in the lane.
Is anyone else having the notion that you'd rather have JaVale McGee over Greg Oden? The fact that Oden is so injury prone seals the deal for me.
With 6 seconds on the shot clock and Kirilenko on him, Caron takes it to the hoop....we've certainly seen Tuff Juice drive more this year, too bad that's lost among the losses. 17-17 tie.
Wizards scrap for some boards on offense, McGee ends up with a tip.....needs to be aware of Boozer cutting down the lane more though, answer points for Carlos. 21-19 Jazz.
0:48: Butler working the ball in the post....McGee, again, moving and not standing still, is able to receive the pass behind the basket as Caron attracts attention....athletic play and dunk. 21 tie.
Ouch...Ronnie Brewer hits a trey at the buzzer to put the Jazz up 26-23.
The Wizards look focused....like a better team than I've seen so far this year. Of course, it's only one quarter. Wiz shoot 50%, Jazz shoot 43.5%....but 4-6 from deep.
JaVale McGee....what can you say about that guy. 6 points, 2 blocks, 2 boards in 3:37....wow. With those long arms, he's able to get to the ball before anyone else, and with his agility, he's able to maneuver around teams trying to block him out.
Q2
Blatche, Dixon, Young, McGee & Butler in to start the 2nd.
10:52: McGee gets called for his 2nd foul....I would've never thought that I'd be genuinely concerned with him picking up fouls....and that's why Darius Songaila comes in shortly thereafter.
Both teams are struggling on offense a bit. Deron Williams is on the bench for the Jazz (back in the game after the timeout), and the Wiz have had a quick trigger a handful of times down the court. 28-26 Utah.
7:52: Andray Blatche hasn't made any bonehead mistakes so far.....guess that's good. He gets fouled and makes 2 FTs - 30 tie.
Stevenson check in for Dixon and joins Young in the backcourt.
I'm thinking that Eddie Jordan's tightening his rotation and that McGuire and Oily find themselves the odd men out....I'm not even sure who's inactive tonight. Looks like another white guy is in uniform on the bench...so Pecherov is Andray Insurance.
And McGee is back in for D-Songaila.....some may want to get rid of Jordan, but there isn't much ground to complain about his substitution patterns this year as there has been in the past.
5:50: Hey...look at that guy. Blatche helps on a Deron Williams drive, gets the steal, takes it the length of the court against Kirilenko, uses his length to avoid the block and hit the layup. 34 tie.
So far, Nick Young has been less assertive......settling.
4:45: Boozer and Williams run the pick and roll with Carlos getting the layup....Steve Buckhantz says,. "You can't stop it"...but I'd beg to differ in this instance, there were four Wizards around that play. Either get a hand in the passing lane, or position yourself between man and basket. 38-36 Jazz. Deron Williams is a great passer though.
4:25: Damn....that's why Blatche is so frustrating....he just made Kirilendo look like David Robinson to his Hakeem Olajuwon with a fading jumper in the paint. I hate dealing with his extremes.
3:08: And yes, that is also why Blatche is so frustrating. He has the ball at the three point line...McGee is on the block, but he, along with everyone else, has no idea what Andray is doing. He seems intent on doing something stupid with the ball, so he does....drives in traffic, on top of McGee and loses the ball out of bounds. Where exactly were you going Andray?
Butler checks in for Nick Young.....commits a silly turnover, carries the ball....9th for the half. Timeout, Wiz up 40-38.
I can see McGee becoming more disciplined on defense....and if you take a shot on him, he's going to bother you any way you slice it.
0:30: Damn....man, the more and more I watch this McGee kid.....he is just all over the place...active on offense, always keeping the ball alive. Caron Butler misses a tough drive, JaVale is there to clean up with a dunk. 46-41 Wizards.
Well....nice work Wizards. They lead 46-41 at the half. A lineup that we haven't seen this year (Stevenson, Butler, Jamison, Blatche, McGee) really made a nice run to close out the 2nd quarter. Can they sustain the effort? I sure hope so.
The Jazz were 5-12 from deep...but that's almost okay because they usually don't take a lot of shots from the outside. So, in keeping Utah out of the paint, the Wizards are making one of the best shooting teams in the league hit FGs at 38.5% (Wiz at 47.4%). Washington has also been determined to take the ball into the paint on offense come hell or high water (save for that one stretch where they took some quick jumpers)....too bad this is happening after five straight losses.
Points:
DC - Jamison 11, Butler 9, McGee 8, Blatche 6
Utah - Boozer 10, Williams 8, Miles 8, Brewer 7
Q3
11:40: The Wizards press....sorta....off a made FT. No one is really hustling....not sure what the hell anyone is doing actually because the Jazz get an alley-oop and points.
Poor Etan Thomas....I feel like he wants to be able to pass out of the post...it's the poetic thing to do, but the guy never gets doubled.
The Wiz continue to go inside....and now Utah is starting to pick up fouls. But you gotta make you free throws...AJ does this time. 50-45 Wizards.
Even Etan is attending the cordoned off section of a street between two cross streets where some sort of inebriated festivities are being held.....a block party. He has two on Boozer.
Boy the Jazz pass well....everyone must hustle in transition....the Wizards haven't a couple times this quarter and have paid for it. Utah ties the game at 50.
7:42: Well, Etan and Antonio didn't last too long...McGee and Young are in for them. You know that when it comes to the vets getting only four and a half minutes to start the 3rd, it's more of a courtesy from Eddie Jordan.
If only Nick Young were on tonight.....but you know, there will be some nights where he won't be...or maybe nights where he gets hot late. It's just part of the game and the Wizards cannot depend on any one player if they expect to succeed.
6:11: I feel like Butler just settled for a jumper...miss. The Jazz come down, Butler loses CJ Miles in the corner and he hits a three. 57-54 Jazz.
I like it when Blatche and McGee are in at the same time......It's almost like JaVale is rubbing off on Andray...showing him where some hustle and determination can get him.
Boozer gets his swagger with a couple mid-range jumpers. 61-59 Jazz.
One again, the lineup of McGee, Blatche, and at least Butler (sometimes with AJ, sometimes with Nick Young) is impressing. Dixon is in there right now, which is kinda tough because Deron Williams can muscle him into the paint any time.
2:01: The Wiz try their first alley-oop to McGee....Boozer saw it coming from a mile away. No dice.
McGee: 13 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, 19 minutes.....Wow.
After three, the Jazz have a fight on their hands. 66-65 Utah. Wizards have 9 blocks on the game.
Q4
Phil Chenier says that Dixon "measured up" on Brevin Knight before popping a trey in his face....one of the very few guys in the NBA that Juan can measure up against.
10:01: Ok...I just yelled out NOOOO at 1 am in my apartment. Why you ask? (watching game on DVR of course)...Jamison is hustling, Butler is hustling...keeping the ball alive after a couple tough misses...Blatche ends up with the ball.....and tries to pass behind his back in traffic. Turnover. Why must Andray Blatche torment me? He's not playing bad, but then he makes an utterly avoidable mistake. 14 Wizards turnovers.
Foreign White Guy Killing The Wizards Alert: Kosta Koufos has hit a couple jumpers on the Wiz....shades of Walter Herrmann. Utah up 70-69.
8:45: McGee is back in...with Young, Butler, Dixon and Jamison.
5:11: Nick Young dribbles and loses it out of bounds....not his night. 16 turnovers for Wiz.
Caron Butler gets a charge called on him the next time down. Got make late baskets. 76-74 Utah.
4:25: McGee misses a lob....his momentum was carrying him past the basket too fast.
Wiz can't convert on three straight tries....still only down 77-74.
Give DeShawn credit....he jumps into a wide open three but sees Butler open under the hoop and fires it in there. Basket And 1 - Tied at 77.
Boozer muscles McGee for a score....Jamison muscles his way to a lane float/hook. Tied at 79. 3:00 left.
McGee's defense on a pick and roll...in staying on his feet and deterring Williams from the basket....leads to a Wiz steal. 2:34 left. Butler gets FTs. 81-79 Wizards.
2:13: Millsap gets a tough And 1....semi-questionable call, but a good one on McGee. 82-81 Jazz.
But then Millsap leaves Jamison, who catches the ball in rhythm and nails a three. 84-82 Wizards.
Might I also add that I like the fact that Jordan has used Stevenson a lot in guarding Deron Williams, especially down the stretch, and not Daniels or Dixon.....DeShawn makes Williams take a tough trey......miss.....Caron Butler rebound.
Nick Young.....offense always around the corner....and Korver has no chance against him....he drives for a layup. GOOD!!! 86-82 - 1:15 left.
Jazz three miss...Nick Young rebound....foul and two FTs. 88-82. I can feel it.....
Jazz can't convert again. 53 seconds left.
The first DAGGER of the YEAR!!! Caron Butler with a very hibachi-esque trey ball. Yessir, Yessir.
McGee didn't do a lot of statistical damage in the 2nd half as he did in the first, but his presence was felt throughout the game.
Eddie shows emotion, encourages crowd to cheer for JaVale McGee coming out the game.
Final Washington Wizards 95, Utah Jazz 87.