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Jamison, Wizards snap Knicks' three-game win streak

Jan 19, 2008 - 5:01 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The Washington Wizards bounced back to end the New York Knicks' season-high, three-game winning streak.

Antawn Jamison had 32 points and Caron Butler added 22 to lead the Wizards to a 111-98 victory over the Knicks on Friday night.

The Wizards atoned for a 105-93 loss at New York on Tuesday night by improving to 3-8 at home this season when allowing opponents to score more than 90 points.

"We had the same taste in our mouth when we lost to Houston and we had to go to Atlanta," said Jamison, who shot 14-of-20 from the field, including 2-of-4 from the arc. "We did a great job of winning three games in a row and then we didn't have enough gas there in New York."

Reserve guard Nick Young added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting for Washington (21-17), which improved to a season high-tying four games over .500.

"To us, the most important thing is, when we don't play well, we're just so anxious to get back out there on the court and try to turn things around," Jamison said. "We were fortunate enough to get it going there in the second half."

"They were on fire," Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said. "Those two guys, Butler and Jamison are good, and Nick Young came in off the bench and he had it going. Sometimes, you run into a team that has it going, and tonight they had it going."

Jamison, who scored 30 or more points for the fifth time this season, made six of his first seven shots and had 13 points in the first quarter. He scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the third period and added more in the fourth on 3-of-4 shooting.

"Antawn had it going in different ways," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "He played well in the post and had his mid-range game going, which we hardly ever see. He even had the three going. He was able to exploit their two big men, who weren't coming out."

Zach Randolph scored eight points early in the fourth quarter, including a bucket off a goaltending call that pulled the Knicks to 92-88 with 9:56 remaining.

The Wizards responded with a 11-2 run, capped by Butler's two free throws which gave Washington a 103-90 lead with 6:37 left. From there, the Wizards never looked back.

"It was incredible," Knicks center Eddy Curry said. "These are the games you enjoy watching on TV, but you don't like being a part of if you're the opposition. Your hat's off to the Wizards for coming out there and making shots. They really put it on us."

Jamison and rookie Oleksiy Pecherov both scored six points during the Wizards' 15-3 run late in the third quarter. Pecherov capped the spurt with a reverse layup for a 90-76 lead with 2:14 remaining in the period.

"He's been playing well," Jamison said of Pecherov, a native of Ukraine, who is the first ever international player selected by Washington in the first round of the draft. "His teammates are gaining a lot of confidence in him, along with the coaching staff.

"He's young still, but he understands the game. Sometimes, we have to let him know what we're doing at both ends of the floor, but his psyche, man, he's just coming in and taking shots like he's been playing for the last five years."

Jamison noticed that he bet up the Knicks for the second time this week.

"He did a great job up in New York and he did the same thing tonight," Jamison said. "That's what we need. We need some scoring to come off our bench as well as guys bringing energy and playing good defense."

Jamison's back-door dunk gave Washington a 71-65 lead with 6:43 remaining in the third. His hook shot extended the Wizards' lead to 82-72 with 4:23 left in the period.

Quentin Richardson had 10 points in the first quarter, and Jamal Crawford added eight as the Knicks led 32-28 after one.

Both teams were on fire in the defenseless first quarter as the Knicks shot 67 percent (12-of-18) from the field while the Wizards were 63 percent (12-of-19) from the floor in the period.

Richardson had 19 of his 21 points in the first half to lead the Knicks, and Crawford added 19 and Curry had 17.

"I just play within the flow of the game," Richardson said. "They tried keying on me a little more. I didn't expect to shoot as much as I did in the first half. I just take what's there for me."

"It was tough, man," Jamison said of slowing down Richardson. "We just tried to stay patient. This is the NBA, guys are going to make shots. He did a great job of knocking down shots but, in the second half, we made a more conscious effort of getting him off that (3-point) line and making him take a couple of dribbles."

Butler admitted the Wizards tried to force him to put the ball on the floor.

"We just continued to run him off the shot," he said. "He's a good shooter. We saw that in the Phoenix days, and he got hot again. We tried to run him off the shot and make him more of a playmaker, and it worked in our favor."