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Washington Wizards 95, San Antonio Spurs 87
Washington, Feb. 9 / Wire Reports --
Two minutes into the game, the Washington Wizards took a 4-2 lead over the San Antonio Spurs, an achievement coach Eddie
Jordan considered worthy of mentioning to his assistant coaches.
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Tim Duncan missed Wednesday's game due to a sprained ankle. He is expected to return Friday against the Nets.
Doug Pensinger
Getty Images Sport
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``I said, 'Geez, we got four points. That's good. We're a lot better than we were in San Antonio,''' Jordan said.
Not only did the Wizards avoid the 21-2 hole they dug for themselves in San Antonio three weeks ago, they beat the Spurs
95-87 Wednesday night with stellar performances from their new All-Stars.
Antawn Jamison had a season-high 35 points and 11 rebounds, and Gilbert Arenas scored 24 as Washington won its third
straight. While the Wizards took advantage of Tim Duncan's absence, they were quick to point out that the 101-73 drubbing in
Texas on Jan. 17 was their first game after Larry Hughes broke his thumb.
``When you lose the way we did in San Antonio, you take it personally,'' said Jamison, who played 46 of 48 minutes. ``It was
our first game without Larry. They did pretty much everything they wanted to do. We had it in the back of our head, but
we're not a team that's all about revenge.''
Without Duncan, the Wizards' All-Stars outnumbered the Spurs' All-Stars two-to-one, and they were the difference. Arenas
spurred a 16-2 run in the second quarter when the Spurs were threatening to blow the game open. Jamison scored 14 points on
5-for-6 shooting in the fourth quarter to keep San Antonio from making a final run.
The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Spurs, who played their second game in two nights without Duncan. Duncan
has a sprained right ankle but might return for Friday's game at New Jersey, the fifth stop in their seven-game road
trip.
All-Star Manu Ginobili couldn't make up the slack, scoring 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Tony Parker scored 13 of his 22
points in the fourth quarter to keep the Spurs in the game. Malik Rose, starting in Duncan's spot, matched his season-high
with 19 points. Rasho Nesterovic, who has had a string of big games when Duncan was out, had just eight points and eight
rebounds in his second game back from an ankle injury.
The Spurs were outscored in the paint (38-36) for just the eighth time this season, a crucial stat on a night when they made
just 7 of 26 3-pointers. Washington's Etan Thomas and Michael Ruffin left little room down low.
``If we can't hit the outside shot it's hard because we've got nobody inside that can really dominate like Timmy,'' Parker
said.
The Wizards took the lead in the third quarter and kept it the rest of the game, but they never led by more than eight.
Parker made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two with 4 1/2 minutes to play, but Jamison answered with a 3-pointer that
started a 7-2 run.
``Timmy wasn't there; it didn't matter,'' San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. ``It's not about who wasn't there. It's
about who did what tonight, and Antawn and Gilbert were great.''
Arenas was 0-for-5 in the first quarter, and the Wizards went 5-for-21, as the Spurs built a 22-15 lead. San Antonio was
ahead 28-17 early in the second when Arenas connected on a tough baseline jumper for his first basket, starting a run that
left the Wizards trailing 40-39 at the half.
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