Tired Raptors Can’t Keep Pace With Wizards In Road Loss
Posted December 1, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
On the night Washington honoured one of its greats, most things went the Wizards‘ way. Caron Butler scored 29 points, Antawn Jamison had 28, and the homeside beat the Toronto Raptors 101-97 Saturday night.
Washington shot an impressive 56 per cent on the night, and didn’t appear to miss star Gilbert Arenas, who’s out several months with a knee injury. Toronto was also missing its all-star, Chris Bosh, who was out for the second straight game with a strained right groin.
Jason Kapono scored a season-high 23 points for the Raptors, and rookie Jamario Moon set season highs with 16 points and 13 rebounds. But none of their efforts was enough. Andrea Bargnani had a night to forget, shooting 2-of-16 from the floor.
Neither team was particularly sharp with both having played the night before, but the beat up Raptors, playing on the road one night after beating the LeBron James-less Cleveland Cavaliers, were clearly running on fumes for much of the evening. Were it not for Kapono’s hot hand the game wouldn’t have been close.
Still Toronto had a chance to orchestrate a comeback, but missed eight of their first 10 shots in the final period, allowing the Wizards to go ahead by nine. The Wizards retired Earl Monroe’s jersey at halftime. “The Pearl” played with the Baltimore Bullets from 1967-71, before the franchise moved to Washington, but the legendary scorer’s presence was clearly a motivating factor for Eddie Jordan’s club on this night.
The Raptors return home to host the Charlotte Bobcats Monday night.
