MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2010
KLMNO PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL Thornton gets game back in shape
Forward coming off season that included trade, weight gain
BYMICHAEL LEE The deadline to receive a con-
tract extension will pass at mid- night Tuesday and Al Thornton isn’t upset that he never got so much as an offer from theWash- ington Wizards to avoid being a restricted free agent next sum- mer.He wasn’t expecting one, nor did he want one. After arriving from the Los An-
geles Clippers at the trade dead- line and being thrust into a for- eign system and environment, Thornton didn’t have much time to leave an impression on the Wizards. And, unfortunately, the reputationheleft in hisshort stint wasn’t what he would like to use asameansto set hismarket value. “I had a bad year last year and I
got a bad rep and I feel I have to prove myself all over,” Thornton said after matching his high with the Wizards on Saturday by scor- ing 24 points in a 99-95 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. “I just need to show people that I can be one of the top players in this league at my position. That’s my whole thing. I love the game and I just want to be recognized as one of the top players in the game, peri- od.”
With Gilbert Arenas sidelined
with a right ankle injury and Josh Howard still working his way back from left knee surgery, Thornton has been given the op- portunity to start, and he has responded by averaging 16.5 points on 58.3 percent shooting while leading the team at seven rebounds through the first two games. Thornton scored 15 points in
the first half against the Hawks, helping the Wizards (0-2) take an early 27-16 lead after taking a pass from JohnWall and dunking on a fast break and burying a 19-foot jumper.He made powerful drives to the basket, hit turnaround jumpers and snuck inside to re- bound a Cartier Martin miss in the second quarter, then went back up for a strong layup inside. “That’s what we looking for
from our three man — somebody that can make shots and re- bound,”Wall said. “I hope we can get that out of him every night. You can tell that he’s been work- ing hard every day.” Coach Flip Saunders was
equally impressed with Thorn- ton’s effort on the defensive end, taking time to congratulate him with a high-five after he pres- sured Hawks all-star guard Joe
Johnson into an air ball, leading to a shot clock violation. Growing up in Perry, Ga.,
Thorntononcedrewcomparisons to Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins because of his similar build and aggressive, attacking nature on the floor. Wilkins, now a commentator forHawks broad- casts, saidhehasobservedThorn- ton since he was in high school and always thought highly of his game. “He’s a flat-out scorer, athletic,
explosive,” Wilkins said about Thornton. “You see his progress. I thought hewasgoing to be a great player in L.A., but certain situa- tions don’t work out for certain guys. So you have to start over somewhere else.Maybe this is the spot for him, but it’s up to him to see how far he goes.” Thornton was his own worst
obstacle last season, as he was inconsistent and poorly condi- tioned, which led to some linger- ing injuries that stunted his prog- ress. He averaged a career-low 10.7 points, more than six points fewer than the year before. He had only been in the league
for three seasons, but he already started to hear troubling com-
ments from his father, Alford, his uncles and others who have been observing him for a long time. “My dad, he told me I didn’t look right,” Thornton said. “People started telling me I was losing a step.” Hearing about slippage at age
26 may have been hard to accept, but Thornton couldn’t deny their claims after he got on a scale and noticed that he had ballooned to 245 pounds. “I was always accus- tomed to eating what I wanted to eatandgettingby,butitcaughtup with me last season,” Thornton said. “That’s when I said, ‘I’ve got to make a change. This is my career at stake.’ That’s when I went about the eating habits, working out more.” Saunders delivered a similar message to Thornton, advising him to get in better shape if he planned on playing for him in the upcoming season. Thornton hired a personal trainer, limited his meat intake to mostly fish and dropped nearly 20 pounds in the offseason. “I always say, ‘Never let your conditioning take away from your talent,’ ” Saunders said. “I think in the past thatmaybe hap- pened. He has made a real com-
EASTERNCONFERENCE
ATLANTIC W L PCT GB Boston
New Jersey Toronto
New York Philadelphia
2 2 1 1
0
1 .667 — 1 .667 — 1/2
1 .500
2 .333 1 3 .000 2
SOUTHEAST W L PCT GB Atlanta Miami
3 0 1.000 — 1/2
Orlando
Washington Charlotte
3 1 .750 1
1 .500 11/2
0 2 .000 21/2 0 3 .000 3
CENTRAL W L PCT GB Indiana Chicago
2 1 .667 — 1/2
1
Cleveland Milwaukee Detroit
1 .500
1 2 .333 1 1 2 .333 1 0 3 .000 2
WESTERNCONFERENCE
SOUTHWEST W L PCT GB New Orleans Dallas
Memphis
San Antonio Houston
3 0 1.000 — 2 1 .667 1 2 1 .667 1 1 .500 11/2
1 0 3 .000 3
NORTHWEST W L PCT GB Portland Denver
3 0 1.000 — 2 1 .667 1
Oklahoma City 2 1 .667 1 Minnesota Utah
1 2 .333 2 1 2 .333 2
PACIFIC W L PCT GB xGolden State 2 0 1.000 — xL.A. Lakers Sacramento Phoenix
2 0 1.000 — 1/2
2 1 .667
L.A. Clippers x-Late game
1 2 .333 11/2 0 3 .000 21/2
MAVERICKS99, CLIPPERS83
Jason Kidd ended the first half with
a 65-foot shot-put heave from inside the three-point arc at the opposite end, Caron Butler scored 17 points and Shawn Marion had 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, leading Dallas to a victory over Los Angeles. Dirk Nowitzki added 16 points.
DALLAS .............................. 27 22 29 21 — 99 L.A. CLIPPERS .................... 23 24 19 17 — 83
DALLAS CButler
Nowitzki Chandler Kidd
Terry Jones
Haywood Marion Barea
Cardinal Mahinmi
Stevenson TOTALS
MIN FG FT O-T A PF PTS 28:29 4-10 8-10 1-4 2 2 17
30:38 7-14 2-4 0-7 1 4 16 19:18 2-2 4-4 0-5 0 3 8 31:34 3-8 4-4 1-9 7 2 13 32:12 6-14 2-4 1-3 5 2 15 13:26 0-2 0-0 0-1 2 2 0 27:32 5-6 0-1 4-6 0 4 10 27:17 6-11 0-2 1-2 2 0 12 18:48 2-6 0-0 0-2 3 2 5 8:26 1-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 3 1:10 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 1:10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
240 36-77 20-29 8-41 23 22 99
Percentages: FG .468, FT .690. 3-Point Goals: 7-16, .438 (Kidd 3-5, C.Butler 1-1, Barea 1-2, Terry 1-2, Cardinal 1-3, Marion 0-1, Nowitzki 0-2). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 14 (10 PTS). Blocked Shots: 7 (Haywood 3, Nowitzki 3, Marion). Turnovers: 14 (Kidd 3, Terry 3, Barea 2, C.Butler 2, Nowitzki 2, Chandler, Marion). Steals: 7 (Kidd 2, C.Butler, Chandler, Jones, Marion, Terry). Technical Fouls: C.Butler, 6:57 first.
L.A. CLIPPERS MIN FG FT O-T A PF PTS Gomes
Griffin Kaman Davis
Gordon Aminu
Bledsoe Jordan RButler Smith Collins
TOTALS
24:46 2-4 2-3 0-5 1 5 7 32:19 4-15 8-12 4-9 0 2 16 31:43 5-15 3-4 3-13 0 3 13 31:50 3-10 1-1 0-2 6 2 7 27:57 2-9 4-4 0-2 4 1 9 23:14 3-9 1-2 0-2 0 4 9 16:10 3-5 0-0 2-3 2 3 6 19:26 4-6 2-3 3-5 0 1 10 20:03 0-6 2-2 0-1 3 0 2 11:22 2-3 0-0 3-6 1 2 4 1:10 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
240 28-82 23-31 15-48 17 23 83
SUNDAY'S GAMES Miami 101, New Jersey 78 Dallas 99, L.A. Clippers 83 Utah 120, Oklahoma City 99 Golden State at L.A. Lakers, Late
MONDAY'S GAMES PHELAN M. EBENHACK/ASSOCIATED PRESS “I’m back to beingmy old self,” says the Wizards’ Al Thornton, here defending Orlando’s Rashard Lewis.
mitment to himself.... He is giving himself a chance to suc- ceed.He’s able to play both at the levelhewantsto playandneedsto play.” The weight loss has contribut-
ed to Thornton regaining his ex- plosiveness. “I’mbackto beingmy old self,” said Thornton, who dis- played that burst in the season- openingloss in Orlando,wherehe dunked over Dwight Howard with both hands while getting fouled. Thornton finished with nine points and seven rebounds in just 24 minutes and Saunders credited him for being one of the few bright spots in that terrible opener. “The one question we had a
week and a half ago, because Al was still hurt a little bit, was who are you going to have at the three?” Saunders said. “That was our best position.” Saunders said he does surveys
toget hisplayers’opinionsof their teammates. “And on almost every one [Thornton] got more votes as the hardest worker on the team. I’m hoping he’s going to have a breakout year and do a lot of good things for us.”
leem@washpost.com HOCKEY
EASTERNCONFERENCE SOUTHEAST W L OL PTS. GF GA Tampa Bay
Washington 7 4 0 14 34 25 Atlanta Carolina Florida
5 5 0 10 25 30 4 5 0 8 24 21
ATLANTIC W L OL PTS. GF GA Philadelphia 6 4 1 13 34 27 Pittsburgh
6 5 1 13 35 28
N.Y. Rangers 5 4 1 11 31 30 N.Y. Islanders 4 5 2 10 31 37 New Jersey 3 8 1 7 20 39
NORTHEAST W L OL PTS. GF GA Montreal Boston Toronto Ottawa Buffalo
7 3 1 15 29 25 6 2 0 12 24 11 5 4 1 11 23 23 4 6 1 9 26 35 3 7 2 8 30 38
WESTERNCONFERENCE CENTRAL W L OL PTS. GF GA Chicago St. Louis Detroit
Nashville Columbus
7 5 1 15 39 37 6 1 2 14 26 17 6 2 1 13 30 24 5 2 3 13 23 25 6 4 0 12 24 29
NORTHWEST W L OL PTS. GF GA Colorado Calgary
6 4 1 13 39 39 6 5 0 12 33 34
Vancouver 4 3 2 10 24 24 Minnesota 4 4 2 10 26 27 Edmonton 3 4 2 8 28 33
PACIFIC W L OL PTS. GF GA Los Angeles 8 3 0 16 34 25 Dallas
San Jose Phoenix Anaheim
6 4 0 12 32 27 5 3 1 11 29 25 3 4 3 9 23 29 4 7 1 9 29 42
One point awarded for overtime losses.
SATURDAY’SGAMES at St. Louis 4, Atlanta 3 (Shootout) N.Y. Rangers 2, at Toronto 0 Florida 3, at Montreal 1 Boston 4, at Ottawa 0 at Philadelphia 6, N.Y. Islanders 1 Pittsburgh 3, at Carolina 0 at Detroit 5, Nashville 2 Chicago 3, at Minnesota 1 at Dallas 4, Buffalo 0 at Colorado 5, Columbus 1 Tampa Bay 3, at Phoenix 0 Washington 7, at Calgary 2 at Los Angeles 3, New Jersey 1 at San Jose 5, Anaheim 2
SUNDAY’SGAMES No games scheduled
MONDAY’SGAMES
Chicago at N.Y. Rangers, 7 Carolina at Philadelphia, 7 New Jersey at Vancouver, 10
7 2 1 15 35 30 5 4 2 12 36 40
Caps end road swing at 2-1, but they have plenty of work to do BY KATIE CARRERA
calgary, alberta — At its conclusion, theWashington Capi- tals’ first major trip of the season can be deemed a success. The Capitals won two of three games in four days while hopping through three time zones and, at times, looked like the confident team that raced to the top of the NHL standings a year ago. Even with the positive results,
however, there may be no better example of Washington’s dual nature — exhibiting all the traits of a Stanley Cup contender one day and leaving Coach Bruce Boudreau searching for players executing well enough to be put on the ice the next — than the team’s play during this stretch. Through 11 games, the Capitals
have shown their ability to tight- en up defensively. They’ve al- lowed an average of 2.27 goals per game, down from 2.77 in 2009-10, and their penalty kill has vastly improved to a 90.2 percent suc- cess rate, stopping 46 of 51 oppos- ing chances with the man advan- tage.
But what they’re seeking is not
a trade-off of greater defense for less offense. The Capitals want both functioning at a high rate consistently — a pursuit that takes considerable focus. “There should be a balance. It
shouldn’t be a fine line between the two, but rightnowit kind of is with us,” center David Steckel said. “But by the same token, we still haven’t given up many goals. Our defense is improving, but we’re still giving up chances and the goalie’s coming up huge. We’re not trying for a trade-off, but I think we just need to bear down individually a little more to have the type of game we want.” The Capitals started off the
excursion with their most com- plete game of the season in a 3-0 shutout of the Carolina Hurri-
Capitals Coach Bruce
Boudreau sawthe offensive breakout he was looking for
Saturday night.
canes. Every player found a way to contribute, whether by block- ing shots, making crisp passes or slowing the oncoming Hurri- canes attack in order to preserve a one-goal lead. It wasn’t a flashy game, but it was the kind of gritty, tight contestWashington wanted to prove it could win. But a 2-1 loss to theMinnesota
Wild the following night left Bou- dreau fuming and the players admitting how ugly the nearly 60 minutes of sloppy turnovers, lackadaisical passes and incoher- ent shifts were. The Capitals held a team meeting the next day and further faced the realities of that poor performance. In the game that offered some redemption Saturday night against the Calgary Flames, Washington started off slowly but seized control with that elusive balance of offense and defense in the second two periods. The Capitals coupled a scoring outburst of seven unanswered goals — six in the second period — with a stingy showing in their own end that limited the Flames to just 13 shots in the final 40 minutes after they recorded 16 in the first period. The 7-2 victory featured a long-
awaited arrival by the Capitals’ power play, which recorded three goals with the man advantage after only four in the 10 previous games. Alex Ovechkin scored his first and second power-play markers of the season and said that the Capitals needed to be reminded of their offensive prow-
ess. “We have the skills,” Ovechkin
said. “I think we have most guys with best skills in the league and sometimes we just didn’t use it, we try to play too casual. [Satur- day’s] gameweplayed very good.” When asked what contributes
to the Capitals’ precision with passes and unwavering rhythm one night and disarray the next, Mike Green said it’s all about Washington’s approach. “I think it’s work ethic, to be
honest with you,” Green said. “Any time we’re working hard, we’re getting opportunities to score. When we’re sitting back
and making those lazy plays, that’s when we get in trouble and have no chemistry. . . . I think we’re getting more and more confident now with the puck. If we can keep that up, we’re going to be dangerous.” Capitals notes: Eric Fehr and
Mathieu Perreault were healthy scratches against the Flames, while Marcus Johansson (hip) and Tyler Sloan (lower body) were held out with injuries. . . . Washington plays its next
three games at Verizon Center, beginning Wednesday against the TorontoMaple Leafs.
carrerak@washpost.com
CAPITALS’NEXTTHREE
vs. Maple Leafs Wednesday, 7 Comcast SportsNet
vs. Bruins Friday, 7 Comcast SportsNet
vs. Flyers Sunday, 5 Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
6Read updates on the Caps all day at
washingtonpost.com/capitalsinsider.
Portland at Chicago, 8 Toronto at Sacramento, 10 San Antonio at L.A. Clippers, 10:30
TUESDAY'S GAMES
Atlanta at Cleveland, 7 Philadelphia atWashington, 7 Boston at Detroit, 7:30 Minnesota at Miami, 7:30 Orlando at New York, 7:30 Portland at Milwaukee, 8 Memphis at L.A. Lakers, 10:30
Percentages: FG .341, FT .742. 3-Point Goals: 4-21, .190 (Aminu 2-3, Gomes 1-2, Gordon 1-6, Bledsoe 0-1, Griffin 0-1, Davis 0-3, R.Butler 0-5). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 17 (16 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Jordan 2, Kaman). Turnovers: 16 (Bledsoe 4, Davis 4, Griffin 3, Aminu 2, Gordon 2, Kaman). Steals: 7 (Griffin 2, Bledsoe, Davis, Gomes, Jordan, Kaman). Technical Fouls: Defen- sive three second, 8:02 second A: 13,718 (19,060). T: 2:22.
HEAT101,NETS78 LeBron James scored 20 points,
Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were close behind, and Miami ended New Jersey’s unbeaten start.Boshfinished with 18 points and Wade added 17, both getting most of them in Miami’s dominant first half before sitting out the fourth quarter.
MIAMI ................................ 29 29 27 16 — 101 NEWJERSEY ...................... 18 24 19 17 — 78
MIAMI LJames
Bosh
Anthony Arroyo Wade
Ilgauskas House Jones
Haslem Magloire Chalmers
Stackhouse TOTALS
MIN FG FT O-T A PF PTS 28:57 5-12 10-12 0-7 7 3 20
25:47 8-10 2-2 0-1 2 0 18 24:21 0-1 1-2 0-3 2 4 1 26:52 5-7 1-2 0-5 4 4 12 27:16 4-9 8-12 1-6 7 0 17 18:19 5-6 0-0 1-4 1 5 10 23:56 5-8 0-0 0-3 4 1 11 30:41 2-6 0-0 0-2 1 1 6 24:24 2-7 2-2 2-7 0 3 6 3:09 0-0 0-2 1-1 0 0 0 3:09 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 3:09 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
240 36-67 24-34 5-40 29 21 101 WIZARDS’NEXTTHREE
vs. Philadelphia Tomorrow, 7 Comcast SportsNet
at NewYork Friday, 7:30 Comcast SportsNet+
vs. Cleveland Saturday, 7 Comcast SportsNet
Radio:WJFK (106.7 FM) 6Read updates on theWizards all day at
washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider.
Percentages: FG .537, FT .706. 3-Point Goals: 5-16, .313 (Jones 2-4, Arroyo 1-2, Wade 1-2, House 1-3, Chalmers 0-1, L.James 0-4).TeamRebounds: 9.TeamTurnovers: 8 (12 PTS). Blocked Shots: 6 (Anthony 4, Bosh, Wade). Turnovers: 8 (L.James 5, Arroyo, Stackhouse, Wade). Steals: 10 (Haslem 2, L.James 2, Wade 2, Anthony, Arroyo, Chalmers, House). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 5:40 first
NEWJERSEY MIN FG FT O-T A PF PTS Outlaw
Smith Lopez Harris
Morrow Favors
Williams Farmar Petro
Humphries DJames Graham
TOTALS
21:50 0-5 0-0 0-4 0 0 0 5:16 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 0 27:41 8-17 4-5 3-5 1 3 20 28:47 4-8 3-3 0-1 6 1 13 27:54 2-9 1-1 1-2 1 1 5 24:06 4-9 5-8 10-13 1 5 13 28:15 5-14 1-2 1-4 2 2 11 16:14 2-7 0-0 0-0 1 1 5 13:40 1-2 0-2 2-5 1 1 2 20:11 3-4 0-0 0-4 0 3 6 18:32 0-4 1-2 1-3 2 1 1 7:36 1-4 0-0 0-1 1 0 2
240:02 30-85 15-23 19-43 16 19 78
Percentages: FG .353, FT .652. 3-Point Goals: 3-14, .214 (Harris 2-3, Farmar 1-4, Graham 0-1, Williams 0-1, Morrow 0-2, Outlaw 0-3). Team Rebounds: 12. Team Turnovers: 15 (15 PTS). Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 15 (Harris 4, Williams 4, Farmar, Graham, Humphries, D.James, Morrow, Outlaw, Smith). Steals: 5 (Humphries 2, Farmar, Outlaw, Williams). Technical Fouls: Defen- sive three second, 11:27 first A: 17,086 (18,500). T: 2:15.
EZ SU
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