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Jamison, Wizards hand reeling Celtics 11th consecutive loss

Jan 29, 2007 - 6:35 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Antawn Jamison wasn't going to look past the Boston Celtics.

Jamison scored 34 points to lead four starters in double figures as the Washington Wizards rolled to a 105-91 victory over the reeling Celtics, who dropped their 11th straight contest.

All-Star Gilbert Arenas scored 23 points and Caron Butler chipped in 21 and 11 rebounds for Washington, which has won seven of the last eight matchups.

Again playing without star swingman Paul Pierce, Boston has moved within two losses of the franchise-record 13-game losing streak set from February 5-March 1, 1997.

"Losing has to bother you enough that you get so (ticked) off that you do something about it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I know guys understand. They've got all the talent and all that stuff. But at some point, we have to demonstrate it. I keep hearing about the confidence, and we talked about that before the game. When did they lose their confidence? Well, you can't have confidence if you don't win games."

The game was tied at 61-61 with five minutes to go in the third quarter before the Wizards took control. Jamison, Arenas and Butler combined to score 12 points during a 16-9 run to end the period.

"We hit shots and got rebounds. We just wanted it," Arenas said. "We know what happened down there (losing a 21-point lead on January 20) when they came in. We were up double digits all game, and every time they got close, we hit shots."

In the fourth quarter, high-flying Gerald Green scored five straight points for Boston, cutting the deficit to 80-76 with 9:06 remaining. Green finished with 14 points.

However, Jamison drained two 3-pointers during a 21-2 burst. Washington extended its advantage to 101-80 with just under four minutes left and coasted thereafter.

"This is a team (Celtics) that you don't want to let the game go down to the end," Jamison said. "We felt that, this year, we almost lost the game (January 20). So, we wanted to come out in the second half defensively and concentrate on making them make tough shots."

Washington coach Eddie Jordan liked Jamison's focus.

"(Jamison) was really big. See, Antawn understands what we are," Jordan said. "He understands that these are the type of games (that are important). We can't take a back seat on concentration and effort. These are the type of games we have to win to establish ourselves as one of the contenders in the East."

With the win, the Wizards remained one-half game ahead of Detroit for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Delonte West collected 22 points and 11 assists and Ryan Gomes scored 20 points for the Celtics, who shot 39 percent (32-of-89) from the field and committed 18 turnovers.

"That was a bad fourth quarter," Gomes said. "Being down seven going into the fourth quarter, they just made extra-effort plays. That's what really killed us. I think we got the shots we wanted. We defended them well in the halfcourt."

A reliable scorer and rebounder for Boston, Al Jefferson had just seven points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes.

"We went to our strengths," Jordan said. "We don't necessarily stop people 1-on-1, but we did a good job on Jefferson and that was a key. The key was getting deflections, digs and steals down in the paint, which we did."