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Jamison leads Wizards to rout of Hornets

Mar 3, 2008 - 4:07 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - In a game of runs, the Washington Wizards closed their 101-84 victory over the New Orleans Hornets with a decisive 21-5 blitz on Sunday night

Antawn Jamison had 28 points and nine rebounds to lead Wizards, who won for the fourth time in their last five games and ended the Hornets' two-game winning streak.

DeShawn Stevenson added 16 points and five assists for the Wizards, who scored 19 points off the Hornets' 15 turnovers and improved to 14-3 when they score 100 or more points at home. The Wizards matched their season-low of seven turnovers.

Peja Stojakovic had 17 points and seven rebounds to lead the Hornets, who lost for the first time on the road this season to an Eastern Conference opponent. The Hornets are 6-1 on the road against teams from the East.

"This is one of the best teams in the NBA," Wizards guard Antonio Daniels said. "When you play teams like the Hornets, your room for error is really small. We did some good things defensively."

Stevenson scored five points and Brendan Haywood four in the Wizards' 14-0 run to a 94-79 lead with 2:56 remaining. The Wizards stretched the run to 19-0 before Rasual Butler made a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left.

Mike James scored eight straight points for New Orleans, capped by a three-point play that pulled the Hornets to 80-79 with 6:40 remaining in the game. The Hornets did not score again until Butler's 3-pointer in the final minute.

"We countered their run with a run of our own," Daniels said.

New Orleans coach Byron Scott said the Hornets took the Wizards lightly.

"That's the biggest problem: they think they can't get beat by this team twice and that's why we got our (butt) kicked both times - that's to be just point-blank with you guys," Scott said. "I don't know if these guys respected them enough. We talked about how hard that team plays over there. Eddie (Jordan) does a heck of a job of getting them ready and they battled. They're not just going to mail it in. They come out and they play hard. We didn't play hard. We didn't compete. When you don't come ready to compete, you normally get a loss."

The Hornets players complained that they could not get a call down the stretch.

"We tried to be aggressive and get to the free-throw line, but they made some big shots and went on a run right there and closed us out," said Chris Paul, who had 16 points, eight assists and six turnovers. "We were taking it inside. I don't know what you've got to do to get to the free-throw line. David West felt like he was getting in there but sometimes you can't put it in the basket."

West scored four points in the Hornets' 8-2 run to end the third quarter that sliced the Wizards' lead to 74-69. With the outcome in doubt, however, he could not buy a bucket or draw a foul.

"They made more (25) than we attempted (17), so you're not going to win a game when it's that lopsided in terms of free throws," West said. "I thought we took the ball hard to the basket. I thought we were aggressive. I thought we attacked. We weren't settling for outside shots, but we're not the only guys out there."

After Chris Paul's dazzling drive pulled the Hornets to 62-59, the Wizards went on a 9-1 run, capped by Dominic McGuire's jumper that gave Washington a 71-60 lead with 3:28 left in the third.

"Different guys are bringing different things each night," Daniels said. "Dominic is bringing some great things to the table right now. He is rebounding well, blocking shots, and bringing energy to the team."

Peja Stojakovic hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner that pulled the Hornets to 58-50 with 8:39 remaining in the third quarter.

"We were just missing shots, missing shots," Stojakovic said. "We couldn't score. I don't know what to say. I can't say it was very good defense, we just didn't score. We did come back but I guess it wasn't enough. This is over and we've got to bring it tomorrow and be ready to play."

Oleksiy Pecherov's back-to-back 3-pointers gave the Wizards a 49-35 lead with 1:17 remaining in the second quarter.

"Pecherov made two or three shots out there and that was really fun for me to see," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "I am glad for him because he makes them down all day in practice and it is good that he feels confident and is getting some experience."

The Wizards ended the second quarter with an 11-5 spurt and led 53-40 at halftime.

"It is a big win for us, especially in the last couple of weeks of not finding a way to pull it off at the end," Jamison said. "We did a great job making them play defense down the stretch. When they had the ball, we did a great job contesting shots at the rim. We did the things you need to do to put yourself in the position to win the game."