Marc Stein of ESPN thinks there is NO WAY Gilbert Arenas should be playing real games this season. Nevertheless, he tuned in last night and loved it.
This is a league desperately low on real rivalries. Cleveland-Washington, one-sided or not, is one of the tastiest hookups we ever get, because these teams and fan bases harbor an undeniable contempt for each other. So you look forward to these encounters, even if the fact that the Cavs have largely neutered this “rivalry” by knocking the Wiz out of the playoffs three seasons in a row.
That was certainly the approach here Thursday night. Even as I was cringing and fearing the worst watching a tentative Gilbert out there — who admitted to TNT’s David Aldridge that he’s hesitant to drive the ball because he’s still skittish about contact — I was also selfishly loving the sight of Arenas and Brendan Haywood in those Zephyrs throwbacks, enabling the Wiz to finally field a lineup worthy of scoring a 109-101 upset at home to halt the Cavs’ 13-game win streak.
No amount of effort from the Wizards was able to keep the Cavs from getting into the paint a good amount and ultimately shooting an impressive 47 percent, but every effort statistic went the way of the Wizards; they went to the line 30 times, while the Cavaliers attempted only 17 free throws. The Wizards shot only 10 3-pointers, while the Cavs were content to launch 30 of their 83 field-goal attempts from beyond the arc.
On every loose ball, there were white jerseys. When the Wizards came down the floor, they made tough moves to the basket. When the Cavs wanted to go to the hoop, there were bodies in between them and the basket.
When Detroit visited the Cavaliers earlier in the week, the Cavaliers were able to win the game mainly because Detroit didn’t want it all that much, with the game having none of the intensity of their great playoff battles from years past. But in the Verizon Center Thursday, the people of Washington made it clear that this is a true rivalry.
It was clear that in Washington, where fans booed every time LeBron touched the ball and the Wizards played like the team with championship aspirations, when two rivals step out on the court, it doesn’t matter what the teams have done before or what everyone else thinks they’re supposed to do. Because above all else, rivalries don’t take years off.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sA5TCaEatw&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
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