Washington – In Game 5, he made the game-winning shot. In Game 6, he made the game-altering block.
While there are plenty of reasons why the Washington Wizards are headed to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 23 years, let there be no mistake: Gilbert Arenas is the man who led them there.
Arenas shot just 6-of-24 on Friday night but raced downcourt and blocked Kirk Hinrich’s fast-break layup with 2:41 to play, igniting a game-ending 7-0 run in the Wizards’ series-clinching 94-91 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
“That was a big play, a huge play,” Washington coach Eddie Jordan said. “Gilbert didn’t shoot the ball well, but there are players who have a will and a determination to win, who will do anything they have to do to help their team win.”
Confetti flooded the MCI Center floor and fireworks exploded at the final buzzer as the Wizards won the series 4-2, advancing for the first time since the Bullets’ 2-0 sweep of New Jersey in 1982, when the first round was best of three.
“I was just born, huh?” said the 23-year-old Arenas. “It’s a great feeling for us. We believed we can go far, and we’re showing it. It’s been an uphill battle with injuries and players missing, but we stayed together and kept believing.”
This was the ninth time in NBA history a team recovered from an 0-2 deficit to advance, but the Wizards aren’t getting much of a break to enjoy their success. They open at top- seeded Miami on Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“For a while, we were known as losers in this league,” center Brendan Haywood said. “I think our coaching staff and general manager brought the right players in here where we’ve turned that tag around.”
Larry Hughes scored 21 points for the Wizards, and Arenas and Antawn Jamison each had 19, but it was three defensive plays that made the difference.
The Bulls were leading by four when Hinrich stole the ball from Hughes and went downcourt for the layup. Arenas came from behind and made the block, reversing the tide of the game.
“I could have easily just fouled him, but I thought I could go for the block and I did,” Arenas said. “It stopped them from going up six. It was a great turnaround.”
Hughes then made a layup to cut the lead to two, and Jamison poked the ball away from Hinrich and hit a jumper at the other end to tie the game at 91 with 2:08 to play.
Then came a bizarre finish. With 36 seconds remaining, the Bulls called timeout to set up a play. But Chris Duhon turned his back just as Hinrich threw the inbounds pass, and the ball bounced off Duhon’s back and was scooped up by Jared Jeffries, who raced downcourt for a dunk with 33 seconds remaining.
“I wasn’t even expecting the pass. I should have been looking at the ball,” Duhon said. “I thought I was doing one thing, and Kirk thought I was doing another thing.”
The Bulls had two more possessions, but Jannero Pargo missed badly with a jumper, and, after Washington’s Juan Dixon made 1-of-2 free throws, Andres Nocioni missed a 3-pointer. Tyson Chandler rebounded but shot an ill-advised two-point attempt with his team needing a 3 to tie.
Arenas rebounded and tossed the ball into the crowd, the final two seconds ticking off the clock.
“We defended our butts off out there the last minute and a half,” he said. “No one scored. People say we can’t play defense, but we did it just then.”
Indeed, the Bulls led for nearly the entire second half but failed to score in the final 2:53.
“I don’t want to say ‘fell apart,’ but we dismantled at the end,” Hinrich said.
Nocioni and Hinrich scored 22 points apiece for the Bulls, who made a remarkable comeback from an 0-9 regular-season start to make the playoffs for the first time in seven years. They kept the game tight from the tipoff despite given little chance after a heartbreaking loss in Game 5.
