Washington
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The Washington Wizards clinched a playoff berth for the first time ever. The last time Washington was in the playoffs, the Y2K bug was still a possibility in the far-distant future and the environment was such that it was not a problem to have a team known as the Bullets. Abe Pollin, the 81-year-old owner who went so far as to bring in Michael Jordan to help him reach the playoffs several years ago, finally made it to the promised land, and gave an emotional and teary speech to this talented and high-character team.
It was their merry band of three All-Stars and near All-Stars that led the team in scoring to victory. Gilbert Arenas scored 21, Larry Hughes scored 23, and Antawn Jamison scored 19, as no other Wizard was in double-figures. And it was their rugged front court that led their team in rebounding. Antawn Jamison had 14, Jared Jefferies had 12, and Brendan Haywood had 11. Notice the intersection? It's Antawn Jamison, the player of the game.
With 19 points and 14 rebounds, Jamison was everywhere on the floor, doing everything the team needed to win. He was the only one to notch a double-double.
What's even more impressive about the top-three is their ability to fill the stat line. Each one of them had at least one steal and one block, to go with between two to five assists, plus their scoring and rebounding. It's versatile trio that will give any playoff opponent fits.
Congratulations Washington and welcome to the playoffs!
NEXT GAME
The Wizards (43-35, second in the Southeast) continue to host teams starting with the letter C. They downed Chicago, and next up is Cleveland (40-37, fourth in the Central), after which they play Charlotte. It's not in alphabetical order but it does still give them a chance to improve their standings. They play LeBron James and the Cavs tomorrow, Friday, April 15th. The game starts at 8:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on NC8 and ESPN.
TEAM NOTES
The Wizards have announced that tickets to Game Oneand Game Twoof the first round of the NBA Playoffs are on sale now!
The Wizards have justtwo home games remainingbefore the regular season concludes. Click here to get your tickets online!Washington's next home game is Friday, April 15th when the team hosts LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
INJURY UPDATE
Peter John Ramos(knee),Anthony Peeler(knee), andJarvis Hayes(knee) are on the injured list.Brendan Haywood(knee) was activated as he came back early.
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: KEY NUMBER 8 Seasons since the Wizards, known as the Bullets during that 1996-97 season, were in the playoffs.The Bullets were swept by the Michael Jordan-led Bulls in the first round.
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: Skeptics laughed behind his back when young, bubbly Gilbert Arenas signed with the sad-sack Washington Wizards before last season and predicted they were going to the playoffs. But after the franchise clinched its first playoff berth since 1997 with an end-to-end 93-82 victory over the Chicago Bulls last night at MCI Center, only Arenas is laughing now. "I was a year off," Arenas said in the Wizards jubilant locker room.
Michael Lee ofThe Washington Postwrites: One year after winning 25 games, two years after Michael Jordan drove his black Mercedes out of MCI Center for the last time and about eight years after Chris Webber and Juwan Howard teased the populace with the promise of false hope, Washington is back in the playoffs.The Wizards have withstood a season filled with injuries and a late-season five-game slide to reach a plateau that the District hasn't seen since the team was known as the Bullets... The young guys left the partying to 81-year-old owner Abe Pollin, who rose out of his seat in his box and lifted his arms high, swaying from side to side for something that took him two buildings, two nicknames and eight years to celebrate. After the game, a teary-eyed Pollin gave an emotional speech to the players in the locker room. "He said that not only is he proud of us about being a playoff team, but about being good human beings," Jordan said.