Virtually every team in the NBA had a chance to sign Drew Gooden. The Washington Wizards are glad they did.
Gooden scored a season-high 21 points on Saturday night, including the go-ahead three-pointer with under three minutes to play, lifting the host Wizards to a crucial 101-94 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
John Wall had 33 points and six assists for the Wizards (35-31), who moved one game ahead of the Nets (33-31) into fifth place in the Eastern Conference and swept the three-game season series, claiming the tiebreaker.
Gooden, 32, was released by the Milwaukee Bucks last summer. Despite career averages of 11.8 points and 7.5 rebounds, the veteran forward remained unsigned throughout the off-season.
Washington lost Brazilian centre Nene to a knee injury on Feb. 23 and signed Gooden three days later. After going scoreless in his first two games, he scored in double figures in four of his next six contests.
“I told them (Wizards) I was gonna make the best of this opportunity and won’t let them down and I think we’re starting to see that now,” Gooden said.
This was Gooden’s best game by far. He made 8-of-11 shots and added a season-high nine rebounds. He scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, when the Wizards erased a 10-point deficit.
Washington scored the game’s last nine points. Gooden had a bucket to tie it before draining his three-pointer for a 97-94 lead with 2:36 to play.
Neither team scored for nearly two minutes until Trevor Ariza grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup to make it 99-94 with 44 seconds left. After a miss by Joe Johnson, Wall got loose for a breakaway dunk that sealed it.
The Nets were outscored 29-15 in the fourth quarter, missing their last eight shots.
Thornton scored 19 points and Johnson added 16 for the Nets.
