Gilbert Arenas's defender, Delonte West, did a great job
Great players win games at key moments in the NBA, especially in the playoffs.
So it went Saturday in the heated and chippy first game of the first-round NBA playoffs series between the Cavaliers and Washington Wizards. One great player made two key baskets in the final minutes. Another couldn't make a knot in a shoelace.
LeBron James sank two difficult but graceful shots, with 1:37 left and 55 seconds left, to put the Cavs ahead by four in what would be a seven-point win.
Gilbert Arenas could not make a thing in the fourth quarter, missing his final four shots for the Wizards.
There was a reason: An unheralded Cavs guard took it upon himself to get in Arenas' space and face.
Forced to forgo the jump shot he loves, Arenas wound up throwing up airballs in crunch time.
Agent Zero took the zero — as in zero-for-four in the final 2:13.
Two 17-foot jumpers missed, then Arenas missed the basket completely on attempted drives — from 5 and 2 feet.
The last two weren't close.
All came off the dribble — even the 17-footers.
The reason?
Delonte West forced the issue.
The guard who came over from the Seattle SuperSonics at the trade deadline was vital in changing the tone of the game by taking away Arenas' jumpers.
1:17 AM
|
Labels:
Cleveland Cavaliers Washington wizards playoff games
|
This entry was posted on 1:17 AM
and is filed under
Cleveland Cavaliers Washington wizards playoff games
.
You can follow any responses to this entry through
the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response,
or trackback from your own site.
0 comments:
Post a Comment