Having defeated the Pistons twice in five days, the Wizards are currently the undisputed kings of the East. Whether they can remain so with Antawn Jamison sidelined indefinitely with a knee injury remains to be seen, but Tuesday's win against the Detroit afforded Wiz coach Eddie Jordan at least a few moments of candor: "That team is a very good team. Are we done with them?" Jordan asked.Tough words, Eddie ... but you tell the truth. The Pistons were shown up by the Wiz in a close loss on their home floor on Friday, so I figured they'd open this game with the same amount of energy they showed on Sunday against the Pacers. Instead, Detroit stumbled out of the gate, let Washington leap out to a 12-point lead after one and never got back over the hump.
Yes, coach, the Wizards and Pistons won't meet again in the regular season.
"So," Jordan said, "we kicked their butts."
The Wizards have to be happy about how they did it -- despite losing Jamison, who torched Detroit for 35 on Friday, in the first quarter and getting (another) sub-par game from Caron Butler, Detroit rarely threatened. And when they did, Gilbert Arenas, mouthpiece hanging half-way out of his mouth the entire time, would calmly drain a three-pointer. He may be all smiles when he's talking to Coach Thomson, but he's got the mindset of a killer, and he's just as eager to step on a team's throat in the third quarter as he is at the end of a game.
It didn't help matters that Detroit was giving away free points -- Rip Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Flip Saunders all picked up technicals, and in a game that was lost by five, those free trips to the foul line really sting. Did all that whining get them on the bad side of the officials? It's hard to say, but it was awfully telling that the Pistons had just six free throws through the first three quarters, finishing the game with 20 attempts to Washington's 30. Was that the difference in the game, though? It might look that way on paper, but it wouldn't have mattered if the Pistons didn't wait until the second quarter to start showing some fight.
As for the Wizards, will they be able to take this momentum into the All-Star break? That largely depends on the status of Jamison, whom the Washington Times reports is out for "two to eight" weeks with a sprained knee. That's a hell of a timetable, but if he is in fact sidelined for the next couple of months it won't be surprising to see the team sniffing around the league for help on the trade market. Ironically, the team with the most available big men may be the Pistons, who likely aren't inclined to help a conference rival, even if they won't face them again in the regular season. Besides, it's not like the players Detroit deems expendable -- preferably Nazr Mohammed, maybe Dale Davis -- really fit into the Wizards' style of play.
