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Saturday, Jan. 29 7:00pm ET
Wizards send Heard out a winner | |||||
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Gar Heard's firing was determined well before tipoff, but it turned out to be a somewhat fitting ending to a sloppy game between two bad teams. Rod Strickland had 26 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds and rookie Richmond Hamilton scored a career-high 21 points Saturday night as the Washington Wizards fumbled and bumbled their way to a 103-98 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Immediately after the game, Heard and two assistant coaches were fired, the Wizards' first major move since Michael Jordan became head of basketball operations. Golden State assistant Rod Higgins, a former teammate of Jordan's, is considered the leading candidate to be the new coach, although the team wouldn't confirm it. "It's a good win," Heard said. "I won my first game and my last game tonight. It was a good ride. Unfortunately, I wasn't the guy they wanted here." Washington is 14-30 and in last place in the Atlantic Division. "Things weren't going well around here, so it's not a surprise to me," Strickland said. "I hope this can make things better. Now we have another coach to get used to or whatever, but things weren't going well. I don't think it could get any worse." In a game between losing teams, the Wizards won primarily because they were slightly less bad than the Cavaliers, who have lost six straight on the road. There were 29 turnovers, a week's worth of missed layups, and neither team played much defense. Cleveland's Shawn Kemp had the most miserable game of all, getting in foul trouble early and missing easy layups in the second half. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 3:38 to go. Kemp drew two technicals protesting his sixth foul and had to be restrained as he left the court. That gave the Wizards four consecutive free throws; they made three to build a 97-89 lead that helped make the difference. "I'm not going to make it worse for myself and start talking about it," Kemp said. "Everybody is disappointed with calls. You just have to deal with it." The Wizards still nearly blew it, though, as the Cavaliers cut the lead to two twice in the final two minutes. Strickland saved the day with a prayer off the glass as the shot clock expired and a rebound off Bob Sura's missed jumper in the final minute. Sura had 23 points to lead the Cavaliers. For much of the game, each team seemed determined to play as poorly as the other to keep the score close. Down 61-50 in the third quarter, the Wizards loped along on a 17-2 run that contained some sequences that threatened to set the game back a couple of decades. Kemp couldn't finish a simple layup on a fast break. Jahidi White was called for his fourth foul for a trying to get rebounding position on a made free throw. Kemp got poked in the eye and couldn't see for a few seconds, yet he took an outside jumper anyway and badly missed. Juwan Howard couldn't finish a dunk with only token body contact from Kemp. There were also sloppy turnovers at midcourt. "The difference in the game was the play at the start and at the beginning of the third," coach Randy Wittman said. "I thought in both we were lackadaisical, and ultimately it cost us the game." The Wizards improved to 2-3 since Jordan joined the team as part-owner, head of basketball operations and occasional practice partner. Jordan missed the game because he is in Atlanta for the Super Bowl. With Kemp in early foul trouble, Sura carried the load in the first quarter for the Cavaliers with nine points in a 13-2 run. Cleveland committed 10 first-half turnovers, but made up for it by outrebounding Washington 27-18 to take a 54-49 lead at the half. Game notesWizards center Ike Austin suffered a cut above his left eye in the first half. He required stitches and did not return. ... Jordan hasn't exactly produced a box office surge. The 20,000-seat MCI Center was about half-full, although the official announced attendance was 14,875. ... The Wizards hope Mitch Richmond, who missed his sixth game with a broken rib, will resume practicing next week. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Cleveland Clubhouse Washington Clubhouse Wizards fire Heard, pick Walker as interim coach
RECAPS Detroit 90 Philadelphia 88
Washington 103
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