Wizards Take Down Pistons

There was a, howyousay, "miscommunication" over on DCist about the Wizards game last night, so here's my recap for you to enjoy on my bandwidth. All the better to rub it in to all my Detroit peoples.

Richard Hamilton. Rasheed Wallace. Chris Webber. All names from the Wizards past that went on to bigger and better things with other teams. All three were at the Phone Booth last night with the visiting Detroit Pistons trying to reclaim their share of first place in the Eastern Conference and avenge last Saturday's loss. It was not to be, however, as Washington raced out to an early lead they would never lose and sent the Pistons back to Deeeeetroit with a 104-99 loss. It wasn't all roses for Washington though. Antawn Jamison went down just over six minutes into the game with a sprained knee after landing awkwardly following a fast break attempt and did not return.

Without #4 in the line-up, head coach Eddie Jordan inserted Calvin Booth to play alongside of Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler. But he wasn't afraid to go small either, and did so late in the game, matching up Butler, Jarvis Hayes, and Etan Thomas against Wallace, Webber and Antonio McDyess for much of the fourth. The small line-up didn't hurt Washington on the boards, in fact, they out-rebounded Detroit by one. The Pistons never really took advantage of their height along the front line, as evidenced by the 36 points in the paint scored by each team. Instead of going to work down low, Webber and Wallace just kept bombing away from the outside.

DeShawn Stevenson did his part to make up for Jamison's lost production, scoring 15 points on 7-8 shooting. Booth provided five rebounds and lots of hustle in his 20 minutes. Agent Zero led the Wizards charge with 36, while Butler added 13 points and five steals. After eight assists and five rebounds in the first half, I thought Arenas might be in the running for a triple double, but he finished with "only" seven boards to go with his final tally of 11 assists. Chauncey Billups led five Pistons in double figures with 24 points. The newly signed Webber only managed six points. He was the only Detroit starter not in double figures.

As of press time, Jamison's condition was unknown, although Coach Jordan said he would undergo an MRI today and would not make the trip to Toronto tonight to take on the Raptors. A prolonged absence would be a big blow to an already thin front line. Jamison, you may recall, hurt his knee two weeks ago at home against the Celtics.

To their credit, the Wizards are staying positive and focused on what they need to do in Toronto tonight against the Raptors. "We have to come out and play more focused," Stevenson said. "That's a guy averaging 20 points per game, so you're going to miss him tremendously, but other guys have to step up and try to play that role." Jarvis Hayes agreed, "It's some big shoes to fill, offensively and defensively, but we have the personnel to keep the ship afloat."

The Wizards, at 27-17, once again have the best record in the Eastern Conference. A few more W's would also wrap up the Eastern Conference All-Star coaching job for Jordan, something the team is very aware of. "That's something that we as a team strive for," said Hayes. "Not only are we trying to get the best seed in the East, we're trying to get the accolades that go along with that. Not only for the team, but for the city."