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Jamison Drops 30 And 12 As Wizards Edge Raptors
(Sports Network) - Antawn Jamison had 30 points and 12 rebounds to help the Washington Wizards take a 106-102 win over the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.
Gilbert Arenas added 22 points and nine assists, Caron Butler had 19 points and seven boards while Brendan Haywood donated 15 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who have won three of four.
“The season has been a big disappointment so far,” said Jamison. “But we’ve been doing a good job lately of trying to be consistent and trying to get wins. We know how to compete, but we’ve gotta find a way to get back-to-back wins and get a streak going.”
Chris Bosh had 22 points and 14 boards, Andrea Bargnani had 20 and 11 while Jose Calderon contributed 20 points and five helpers for the Raptors, who have dropped four straight.
“We just missed shots, it’s pretty obvious that’s the way it is right now,” said Bosh. “When you lose you can’t get frustrated. We’ve got a game tomorrow night and Atlanta don’t care if we’re frustrated. We’ve gotta play hard and get wins.”
The Raptors took a five-point lead into the final period and Bosh’s jumper on the first possession made it a 79-72 game.
An 11-2 run, though, a bit later from the Wizards, with a three-point play from Arenas followed by a layup from Jamison, gave the team an 88-85 lead with 6:05 to play.
Washington built the lead to five points, 99-94, on a slam from Butler with 1:15 left, but a free throw from Hedo Turkoglu followed a few seconds later by two from the line from Jarrett Jack with 58.1 seconds left made it a 99-97 game.
Andray Blatche was fouled and drained his two free throws with 37.9 seconds left and, after Turkgolu turned the ball over, Jamison connected on 1-of-2 free throws with 29.6 seconds left for a five-point lead.
Jack quickly put in a layup, but Earl Boykins was fouled with 22.6 left and he calmly sank his two free throws.
Turkoglu missed a shot at the other end and Butler’s two from the line with 10.4 left sealed the win.
The largest lead of the first quarter was five points when Jamison hit a free throw with under four minutes to go in the quarter for a 17-12 lead. Calderon, though, followed with a three-point play to keep the score close and Washington took a 25-24 lead into the second.
The second quarter was similar to the first as neither team was able to build a substantial lead. The Raptors had a seven-point lead on Bosh’s basket which made it a 39-32 game with 7 1/2 minutes left. A bit later, though, Jamison and Arenas hit consecutive three-balls to get back into the game and Boykins’ jumper at the buzzer gave Washington a 55-54 lead at the break.
Trailing by four points in the third, the Wizards surged ahead with seven straight points, capped on a free throw from Haywood, to make it a 70-67 margin with 3:31 to play in the frame.
However, the Raptors answered that run with a flurry of their own as Bargnani sparked the 11-2 rally with a three-ball and Turkoglu’s two free throws from the line with 14.4 seconds left in the frame gave the team a 77-72 lead heading to the final 12 minutes.
Washington hosts Milwaukee on Wednesday...Toronto plays in Atlanta on Wednesday...Toronto took two of three for Washington last season...The road team has won the last five games in the series...Bosh notched his NBA-leading 16th double-double of the season.
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