Regular Season Top Ten Moments Part II

5. Caron returns on his birthday in a 101-99 win over Cleveland

To say the Washington Wizards are not the same team without Caron Butler is an understatement. When Butler injured his hip against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 27th, the Wizards were 23-18 and had come off back-to-back wins against the Boston Celtics and a win against the Dallas Mavericks. Fast forward six weeks and the short-handed Wizards came into a crucial March 13th game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a record of 31-32 and clinging to the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

With the rival Cavs in town, and with the day falling perfectly on his birthday, Butler returned to the Wizards starting lineup and gave the Wizards a much needed emotional lift.

It hardly took Butler long to remind his teammates and fans what they were missing, as he knocked in his first jumper of the game on his way to a team-high 19 points. With Butler taking care of the scoring duties, DeShawn Stevenson locked down the Cavs’ LeBron James, holding the All-Star to 25 points and seven turnovers, and forcing him to miss what would have been the game-winning shot as Washington pulled out the 101-99 win.

"It was a playoff type game, and it was good to see our team respond the way we did tonight," said Antonio Daniels. "They went on a run, we took their run and responded with our own run. Getting Caron Butler back helped us out not only physically, but also emotionally."

4. Stevenson drains game-winning three-pointer to top Hornets

There are few players in the NBA that are more reliable than DeShawn Stevenson. For close to 250 consecutive games, Stevenson has had his name penciled into the starting lineup. Therefore, it was no surprise when the Wizards needed one of their biggest lifts of the season it came from Stevenson. The game came when the Wizards were in the midst of one of their toughest dry spells of the season. Playing without both Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards had struggled to pull out close games and had lost four of their previous six games in the final possession. Facing one of the best teams in the league, the New Orleans Hornets, Stevenson picked up the Wizards when it mattered most, scoring 16 of his career-high 33 points in the fourth quarter, including the biggest three points of the game.

With the game tied at 92 and just seven seconds left on the clock, the Wizards got the ball in Stevenson’s hands and the 6’5” shooting guard from Washington Union High School did the rest, driving up the court, pulling up from the left arc and sinking a buzzer-beating, game-winning three-pointer.

"[The shot] felt good coming out of my hands," Stevenson said. "I was shooting it pretty good all night. Some went in, some went out, but I was happy that one went in."

3. Caron and Antawn named All-Stars

Coming into the 2007-08 season, Washington Wizards’ fans had become accustomed to having two of their players in the All-Star game, with the

Wizards sending multiple All-Stars in two of the past three seasons. Most basketball pundits figured that would come to an end after Gilbert Arenas had surgery on his left knee in mid-November. However, without Arenas, the Wizards two other members of Washington’s “Big 3”, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, decided to keep the recent tradition alive, as both players were elected to their 2nd All-Star game.

In Arenas’ absence, both Jamison and Butler put up career years with Butler setting career-highs in points per game, assists per game, steals per game, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage. Not to be outdone, Jamison tallied career bests in rebounds per game, double-doubles and steals per game, and became just the eighth Wizard in franchise history to average over 20 points and 10 rebounds for a season.

“Caron and Antawn are our team captains and their great leadership has had a significant impact on our team,” said Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan. “They are serious about practicing and playing the right way, and they are both excellent teammates. Caron was an All-Star last season, but he continued to work diligently on his game during the off-season, and he has now joined an elite group of players in the NBA. Ever since Antawn was an All-Star for us in his first season in Washington, he has been as consistent of a player as there is in the NBA. They both have had All-Star seasons, and are very deserving of this honor.”

2. Wizards become only team in NBA to knock off Celtics three times

Without question these were three of the most memorable nights in the 2007-08 Washington Wizards season. Throughout the 2007-08 season most of the national talk about the NBA centered around the new-look Boston Celtics, and with good reason. After having finished with one of the worst records in the league in 2006-07, the Celtics added two perennial All-Stars to their lineup in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. The moves helped Boston become the top team in the NBA, and they finished with over 60 wins. However, if there was one team that didn’t seem awed by the Celtics it was the Washington Wizards, who became the only team in the NBA to knock off the Celtics on three different occasions.

The Wizards run against the Celtics began with a series of back-to-back games in mid-January. Despite being in the midst of a season that was already riddled with injuries, the Washington Wizards had recovered from a tough start to put themselves back in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race. However, the Wizards were about to be put to the ultimate test with back-to-back games against the league leading Celtics. The Celtics had disposed of the Wizards rather easily in their first meeting on November 3rd, and entered the first of the two contests with a league-best 30-4 record.

Having played almost half the season without Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards had started to gel with co-captains Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison leading the charge. Hosting the Celtics in the first game, the Wizards fought hard through the first three quarters, but still trailed by five points with 12 minutes left to play. In what was the first of two fourth quarter comebacks against the Celtics, Washington held Boston without a field goal for over a six minute stretch to come back and rally for the win.

Two nights later the Wizards were up to the challenge again, this time in Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden. The script for the first three quarters was eerily similar to the game two nights before as, Boston led by four points when the fourth quarter began. After coming from behind in the first contest, it looked like Boston would get their revenge, starting out the fourth quarter with a 14-4 run to go up 77-63 with just over six minutes remaining. However, Washington answered with their own 16-2 run and eventually tied the game at 79 following a DeShawn Stevenson three-pointer with 1:08 to go in the game.

While Stevenson tied the game, it was Butler who took over down the stretch. Playing against another All-Star in Paul Pierce, Butler dominated his counterpart, giving the Wizards the lead with an “and-1” lay-up, and followed that up with another driving lay-up, a defensive rebound, and two clutch free throws that put the Celtics away for good. "We always seem to come back strong when our backs are against the wall. We did it Saturday night and we did it tonight in a tough road game,'' Jamison said. "To beat these guys in back-to-back games considering how they've been playing is something special.''

Having been one of only three teams to defeat the Celtics twice during the regular season, the Washington Wizards went for their third victory in the final regular season contest between the two teams on April 9. While the Wizards had beaten the Celtics twice early in the season, in neither of those two victories were the Wizards completely healthy. However, that had just changed the previous week when Gilbert Arenas returned to the floor against the Milwaukee Bucks. With Arenas coming off the bench, the Wizards brought in a 6th man that the Celtics simply had no answer for. While he only scored 13 points, Arenas helped spark a 16-2 run in the 2nd quarter and a 15-4 run in the third quarter as Washington cruised to a 109-94 win.

“It says a lot to beat that team three games to one throughout the regular season,” said Antawn Jamison who led the Wizards with 27 points in the win. “If a match-up was to occur in the playoffs, it gives us the confidence to know that we can match-up with them. We’re taking their best shot and things are going to intensify once the playoffs get started. I think it’s good for us to know that we have the confidence to beat Boston three times.”

1. A perfect ten

There are few times in a sport’s season when a fan gets to see something historic happen, and there are even fewer times when a fan gets to see multiple historic events occur on the same night. Yet on December 1, 2007, when the Washington Wizards hosted the Toronto Raptors, the 20,173 fans in attendance all knew they were going to see something special. On that night, the Wizards and Verizon Center celebrated one of the great moments in franchise history.

On the same day that Verizon Center celebrated its 10th birthday, Wizards’ owners Irene and Abe Pollin retired Baltimore Bullets great, Earl Monroe’s #10 jersey in a halftime ceremony.

“Earl thrilled basketball fans around the country for many years, and his time in Baltimore with the Bullets was spectacular,” said Wizards Chairman Abe Pollin. “I have always considered Earl a Bullet, as well as a good friend, and I know he holds his time with our franchise in high regard.”

Monroe’s #10 jersey joined Gus Johnson’s #25, Elvin Hayes’ #11 and Wes Unseld’s #41 as the only retired numbers in franchise history.

“This is a great honor,” said Monroe. “I was drafted by the Bullets and it was in Baltimore where I started my professional career. It was four great years with a lot of fond memories. It was a wonderful experience. My four years with the Bullets set the tone for the rest of my career, and now it brings me full circle with my number being retired.”

With Verizon Center celebrating a birthday, and Monroe having his number hung up in the rafters, the Wizards made sure to take care of their job, knocking off the Toronto Raptors 101-97. As they did for most of the season, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison led the Wizards, combining for 57 points in the win.