Washington comes back from 22 down for a near-storybook first win over undefeated Boston, but just can't close it out.



Michael Jordan tries to split the teeth of a very tough Boston defense.



By Fred Schiebel, Head Writer

BOSTON - In a surprising and ultimately positive development despite the negative outcome, the Wizards played their most competitive game of the season -- against a first place team, giving the Boston Celtics a run for their money before falling in the end, 88-85, in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 at the FleetCenter.

Not that it was close the whole way through. As is now their standard M.O., Washington got off to a poor start, finding themselves down 29-17 by the end of the first quarter, shooting 32% to Boston's 54% from the field. Michael Jordan was 0-4, and Richard Hamilton was only slightly better, making one of four.

"I have no idea what's goin' on," Hamilton said. "If you saw how hard we've been practicing our shots, how well we've been shooting in practice, you'd be just as amazed as we are that we're not hitting more."

Give them a little credit and a little discredit -- in all previous games this season the Wizards have been for the most part still within relative striking distance, then have fallen apart in the fourth quarter. The hammer showed up earlier than usual, as the Celtics extended the lead to 50-28 late in the second period. The Wizards shot even worse, 25%, and Jordan could not find the hole either, going 1 of 9 for the half, Hamilton 2 for 9. Backup guard Courtney Alexander was the best of the three, hitting 3 of 7 field goal attempts, scoring seven points and grabbing three rebounds off the bench.

For the Celtics most of the damage was done by Antoine Walker, who had 17 points by the break. Paul Pierce, much to the the dismay of the fans who had paid exorbitant prices for seats to see his battle with Jordan, was left on the bench to rest because of the big lead, totaling only six points on 3 of 6 shooting from the field in the half.

Then with the start of the third quarter came a wave of fresh energy. Marching to the screams of coach Doug Collins, the Wizards dug in and made a defensive stand, holding the Celtics to 26 percent shooting and 17 points in the third stanza. Not only that, they hit 58 percent of their own shots. In his most effective quarter of the night Jordan scored 10 points in the period on 3 of 8 shooting, while shutting down Pierce on the other end, rendering him scoreless. On a last second Tyronn Lue foot three-pointer from the top of the key, the lead was cut to four as the buzzer sounded, 69-65.

To the shock of just about everybody, the Wizards briefly took a 77-75 in the fourth on a driving six foot jumper by Lue in traffic. This was the alarm clock the Celtics needed, and from there they went on an 8-0 run to regain control. But then with about three minutes left in regulation, Richard Hamilton finally got unchained from the bench, scoring and getting fouled on a drive down the lane, converting the three point play to cut the lead to three, 83-80.

Pierce was then intentionally fouled by Jordan on an emphatic dunk attempt, where he missed both free throws. Popeye Jones was then hacked by Antoine Walker near the rim, cutting the lead to one by converting both charity attempts. After the defensive stop, Jordan was fouled on a drive and converted two free throws himself -- to give Washington the lead again, 84-83, with a little over a minute left in the contest.

He fouled Pierce again on the other end, who this time converted both free throws for Boston to retake the lead. After a Washington miss, Boston center Vitaly Potapenko was sent to the line. He made one of two, bumping the Celtic lead up to 86-84 with 16.5 seconds left on the clock.

Much to everyone's chagrin on the next possession, Tyronn Lue drove the lane to tie the game and get fouled-- with about 12.2 seconds still left in the contest.

"I have no idea why on earth he went so early," Collins said. "We had just come out of a timeout, for Pete's sake. He could've gotten that shot at any time. Plays like that show just how young we are."

Perhaps guilt was the reason Lue only made one of two. The Wizards then intentionally fouled Kenny Anderson who hit both of his free throws, making the score 88-85 with 8.4 seconds to go. After another timeout, Lue tried to drive for a quck basket again, this time not succeeding in finding an opening, and kicked it out to Chris Whitney who took the game-tying three pointer attempt... which missed long.

Shouldn't have somebody else gotten that last shot... the greatest clutch performer of all time, maybe? Maybe not. Jordan tallied his worst shooting mark since his return, finishing a paltry 4-20 from the field, scoring only 16 points. Still, you could almost make the case that he won his disappointing battle with Pierce, who only scored 13 points himself on an also terrible 4 for 12 field goal conversion rate. At least he looked like the victor of the second half of their duel: Pierce was 1 of 6 in the final 24 minutes, when Jordan was 3 of 11.

Antoine Walker had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Celtics. Lue led the Wizards with 19 points, but had zero assists as the starting point guard.

Jordan, while still downtrodden, sounded inspired by actually being in a game in the final minutes. "They [Boston] were really trying once we fought our way back in, and we stayed right there with them, on their home floor. Considering how well they've performed so far this season, it's definitely a positive development."

Collins reaction was a bit surprising afterward.

"Overall, I'm happy with this game," he said, despite looking exhausted by the ordeal and subsequent result. "I know how hard we worked in practice getting ready, and our defense held them to 37 percent shooting. You can't ask for much more than that. We're still struggling with our new offense, but that should work itself out in time.

"If we lose 77 more playing like this, I'll give my guys a pat on the back after each and every one."

Hopefully that is a statement Wizard fans will not have to see put to the test.