Dec

13

Arenas Triple-Double Wasted, Dunleavy Free Throws Help Pacers Edge Wizards 114-113

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Game Recap 

Gilbert Arenas

Poor Gilbert Arenas. He has arguably his best game of the season yet somehow managed to choke at the free throw line late in the fourth quarter during the Indiana Pacers-Washington Wizardsgame that took place Saturday night at Verizon Center. The point guard had a chance to seal the win for the Wizards with 6.6 seconds left in the game, but missed both free throws. But the Pacers’ Mike Dunleavy calmly drained a pair of free throws with just one-tenth of a second remaining, helping Indiana edge Washington 114-113.

The first quarter was a track meet of sorts as both teams shot very well; the Wizards held a six-point lead at the 5:24 mark of the period on a Caron Butler layup, but the Pacers would chip away at their deficit until Dunleavy tied the game at 37-all on a long three-pointer at the horn. Troy Murphy’s two free throws capped an Indiana 13-2 run which put them up 50-41 with 6:15 left in the half; a technical foul assessed on Arenas allowed Dunleavy to make a technical free throw then Murphy completed a three-point play, which gave the Pacers its largest lead at 66-47. A pair of Arenas free throws with 1 second left in the second  quarter put Washington to within 67-51.

An Antawn Jamison jumper got the Wizards to within ten at 67-57; after a Pacers timeout, a pair of free throws by Nick Young followed by an Earl Boykins jumper allowed Washington to regain the lead at 89-88 with 2 seconds left in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was tightly contested as there were several lead changes with neither team holding more than a three-point lead; with the Pacers out of timeouts after Arenas missed both free throws with 6.6 seconds remaining in the game, T.J. Ford dribbled the ball the length of the court for a layup, which he missed.

The ball was tipped out of bounds by the Wizards’ Brendan Haywood; the clock showed that time expired but, but a replay reset the clock to five-tenths of a second. The Pacers then lobbed the ball to Dunleavy, who was fouled as time expired. A second review put one-tenth of a second on the clock and Dunleavy converted both free throws.

The Pacers’ high scorer was Murphy with 28 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Dunleavy came off the bench to add 24 (including 4 three-pointers) with 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals; Tyler Hansbrough chipped in 19 with 3 rebounds and a steal.

Jamison led the Wizards with 31 points (including 4 treys), 7 rebounds and 3 steals while Butler added 23 with 3 rebounds and 2 assists; Arenas earned his fifth career triple-double, scoring 22 with 10 rebounds, 11 assists and 2 steals. Indiana (8-13) plays again on Monday when they fly to Orlando to take on the Magic while Washington (7-14) make the coast-to-coast trip to Los Angeles to face the Clippers – also on Monday.


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