No overtime magic for Raps
Wizards 119 Raptors 111 Peterson forces extra time with three-point prayer Questionable call makes tough loss especially bitter
WASHINGTON— The loss was a bitter one, which says a lot about how far the Raptors have come in the last week or so, a group that now that expects to contend in every game and win more than its fair share. The emotion was raw in the final 25 seconds here last night when Toronto didn’t get a call, didn’t make a basket and dropped a 119- 111 overtime decision to the Washington Wizards. Two key plays involving Washington’s Antawn Jamison, a free throw that came after a contested clear- path foul ( which gave him foul shots and the Wizards the ball) and a three- pointer he hit on the ensuing possession, after the Raptors thought Gilbert Arenas should have been called for an offensive foul while dishing off to an open Jamison, sealed a loss that could very easily have been Toronto’s third win in a row.
Jamison’s big plays, part of a relatively quiet 26- point effort, negated Morris Peterson’s clutch game- tying three- pointer with five seconds left in regulation. But that Peterson magic didn’t transcend to him or his teammates in overtime as Toronto, led by Chris Bosh’s 27 points and 21 from Peterson, missed six shots in the extra five- minute period.
Arenas, with 37 points, led the Wizards while Charlie Villanueva came up with 18 off the bench for the Raptors.
It was Toronto’s second overtime game this season after losing at home to Seattle last month. Peterson’s clutch threepointer gave Toronto its overtime chance following a dramatic final two minutes of big shots by both teams.
Arenas, as good a big-shot maker as anyone in the NBA, drilled a three- pointer with the shot clock about to expire that put the Wizards up 104-100 with 19.4 seconds remaining.
Bosh, who scored 13 of his 27 points from the free throw line, answered with 14.9 seconds left with a layup and when Jamison missed the second of two free throws after a Toronto miss, the Raptors trailed 105- 102 and had a chance to tie.
Peterson, who has been outstanding in the last three games, badly missed his first attempt at a three- pointer but got his own rebound, gathered himself and dribbled to the corner, where he hit his biggest shot of the season with 5.1 seconds left.
Arenas missed a chance to win at the buzzer when the Raptors aggressively double- teamed him and forced him to take an off- balance 26- foot jumper.
It was one of Toronto’s best games of the season, even if it wasn’t full of spectacular offence.
Bosh, Peterson and Villanueva carried the offence and while Jamison managed to top the 20point plateau, the Raptors did a good job negating him, often with rookie Joey Graham. They couldn’t, however, contain Arenas for long stretches as he and Jarvis Hayes scorched Mike James and Jose Calderon, outscoring them by a shocking 58- 15 margin. The Raptors somehow managed to stay close after a dreadful third quarter in which they committed an unconscionable 10 personal fouls, allowed the Wizards to shoot 15 free throws ( of which they made 8) and shot only 7 for 22 from the field.
However, finishing on a 5-0 run, they carved a 10- point deficit to just 83- 79 heading into the final quarter.
It was the kind of third quarter meltdown that has been the team’s nemesis for the last two seasons; coming off a seasonbest 61- point first half, it was inexplicable.
Peterson, who has played his best basketball of the season in the last two weeks, helped keep the Raptors in the game in the first half, when he hit five of six field goals and had 14 points. Coming off a strong 24- point outing in New Jersey on Saturday and a 15- point game in Atlanta on Friday, Peterson has taken some of the offensive load off Bosh and Villanueva and has helped compensate for the shooting woes of veteran Jalen Rose.