Revisiting the Arenas-Lewis trade

It's been more than a month since the Wizards traded Gilbert Arenas to the Magic in exchange for Rashard Lewis, and it's still way too early to declare a winner or a loser in that deal (not to mention that the deal was obviously financially motivated). But so far, Arenas is having a much more difficult time adjusting to the Magic than Lewis is having with the not-as-talented Wizards.

Take a look at both Arenas's and Lewis's stats before and after the trade.

When	Gm	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	FG%
Lewis Before	25	32.2	12.2	4.2	1.2	41.9
Lewis After	17	36.1	14.2	7.7	2.8	47.5

When	Gm	Min	Pts	Reb	Ast	FG%
Arenas Before	21	34.3	17.3	3.1	5.6	39.4
Arenas After	19	21.1	8.4	2.6	4.1	36.4

Lewis's numbers are better across the board. He's not just playing more minutes and taking advantage of that, but he's also shooting a higher percentage from the field. Arenas, meanwhile, has struggled mightily and is playing the fewest minutes per game of his career. He's also making just 36.4 percent of his shots, which obviously isn't very good at all.

Remember, of course, that this is only looking at the current season and just a small sample of games, so Lewis's numbers could drop off and Arenas could start playing better as he becomes more comfortable with his role on the Magic. But right now, even if the trade wasn't about Lewis replacing Arenas on the roster and making the Wizards better right now, Lewis is playing better overall and is doing a decent job filling in.

Link: 'The other side of Gilbert Arenas'

Gilbert Arenas may not have left the Wizards on the highest of notes, but Patrick Hruby focuses on something else in his fantastic feature on ESPN.com: Arenas's connection with Andre McAllister Jr., who lost several family members in a tragic house fire on December 20, 2004. In his piece, Hruby discusses the role Arenas has had in McAllister's life and Arenas's off-the-court legacy in Washington.

Hruby also writes about the now infamous gun incident between Arenas and Javaris Crittenton in the Wizards locker room. In one section of his feature, Hruby highlights some of the letters that were sent to D.C. Superior Court Judge Robert Morin, who was in charge of sentencing Arenas:

The letters were different.

The letters were sent to Morin, 32 in all. They came from the founder of a local anti-youth violence group, from a former special assistant to the D.C. mayor and from a federal police officer who runs a Washington summer basketball league. They vouched for Arenas. They asked for leniency.

Mostly, they told stories.

Like the time Arenas saw that Hurricane Katrina refugees were being housed at the D.C. Armory, so he drove to Costco, loaded up his SUV with $18,000 of provisions and delivered the goods himself.

Or the time he gave his entire playoff share to Wizards equipment manager Robert Suller, allowing Suller to buy a minivan to accommodate his special needs daughter, who suffers a rare genetic disorder and requires constant medical care.

Or the time Arenas invited two young boys whose father had been murdered to a Wizards practice then arranged for them to sit on the end of the team's bench for all weekend home games, where the boys became fast friends with ... Andre Jr.

The quoted section above is just one part of Hruby's work, and I strongly suggest that you read the whole piece.

Nick Young takes charge

With John Wall still out and Gilbert Arenas now in Orlando after being traded for Rashard Lewis, Nick Young has had to shoulder more of the scoring load in the last two games. Against the Heat a few days ago, a game in which the Wizards somehow lost despite leading by five with 32 seconds left and again by four with 18 seconds left, Young perhaps had his best game of the season, scoring 30 points on 13-23 shooting and grabbing four rebounds. He also made both of his three-point attempts and both of his free throws while playing a season-high 45 minutes.

Young followed his performance against the Heat with another efficient effort last night in a blowout (108-75) win over the Bobcats. He scored a team-high 21 points in 35 minutes and shot 8-13 from the field. He also made three three-pointers and got to the line twice (making both), though he did commit five turnovers, a season-high for him.

When Wall gets healthy and returns to the lineup, it's not clear yet whether Young will move to the bench as the third guard or will instead start at shooting guard and force Kirk Hinrich to assume third guard duties. Hinrich does seem to be more comfortable playing point guard and getting his teammates involved, while there's no question that Young's best attribute is putting the ball in the hoop. In his last eight games, Young has scored at least 17 points in seven of them. In his one bad game during that stretch -- a three-point clunker against the Kings on December 8 -- Young made just one of eight shots while also turning the ball over three times.

Other than that, Young is averaging slightly more than 19 points per game in nine December games (he missed one against the Blazers because of a bruised left thigh) and shooting over 48 percent from the field. In 25 games so far this season, Young is playing more minutes (which should continue), making more of his shots (48.0 percent), and scoring more points (14.5) and grabbing slightly more rebounds (2.2). He's also taking more threes (3.6 per game) and is still making 38.9 percent of them. For someone who loves to shoot long twos, it's good that Young is shooting and making more threes. I also haven't noticed Young shooting as many fade-aways, though I'm not sure if that's completely true or not.

Young may not continue to play and shoot this well, but he's going to have every opportunity to do so since the Wizards don't exactly have a ton of other options at guard right now. But for someone who hasn't seen a whole lot of consistent minutes throughout his career, Young certainly won't complain about that.

Wizards part ways with Arenas, ship him to Orlando for Rashard Lewis

Taking advantage of an opportunity to get rid of Gilbert Arenas's massive contract, Ernie Grunfeld and the Wizards shipped Arenas to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Rashard Lewis.

After this season, Arenas has a little over $62 million left on his contract that runs through 2013-2014. Lewis's deal, however, expires after the 2012-2013 season. Also, while Lewis is currently making $20.5 million and will make about $22.2 million next season, according to The Washington Post's Michael Lee, Lewis is only guaranteed $10 million in the final year of his contract instead of the full $23.8 million or so (if he fails to meet various performance incentives). If the Wizards end up paying Lewis $10 million in the last year of his contract, the Arenas-Lewis trade will end up saving the Wizards about $30 million. Not bad.

But besides providing some financial relief, this move is mainly about one other thing: building around John Wall. I don't necessarily believe that Arenas's presence on the team was hurting Wall's development or impairing Wall's effectiveness on the court. I also think that it was possible to keep Arenas around while also handing the proverbial keys of the future over to Wall. But, hey, the Wizards had a chance to get out from under Arenas's huge contract, and they jumped at that opportunity. It's hard to blame them for that, even if the Magic didn't throw in any cash or draft picks along with Lewis.

Honestly, I think this was a trade the Wizards needed to make, if not just to provide Arenas with a change of scenery. His time in Washington had run its course. In a poll conducted on Wizards Insider (the link at the top), only 7 percent of 3,261 voters thought that the Wizards should have kept Arenas. The rest, at the very least, believed that it was time to trade Arenas away. That should say something.

In the end, Arenas provided a lot of bad memories -- but plenty of awesome ones too. I'll do my best to focus on the good times instead of reminiscing about all of the things that went wrong while Arenas was in D.C. Here are some of those exciting moments:

Again, those are just a few of the dozens of positive moments Arenas had in a Wizards uniform. Things may not have ended well between Arenas and the Wiz, but most Wizards fans will still wish Arenas the best. Good luck in Orlando, Gil.

Wizards fight back, stun 76ers against in OT

Because of work, I was unable to watch one minute of the Wizards' 116-114 win over the Sixers last night. But on the way home, I did have the opportunity to listen to the radio during the fourth quarter and overtime, and I will say this: play-by-play man Dave Johnson and color analyst Glenn Consor were shocked at the Wizards' comeback and eventual victory.

From listening to Johnson and Consor and looking at the game's box score, the Wizards were terrible in the first half. They finished the half down 14 points, and from what I could tell by glancing at the box score, no Wiz player was really competing except for JaVale McGee, who already had a double-double midway through the second quarter. (More on McGee and his monster game below.)

After scoring just 38 points in the first half, though, the Wizards turned things around in a hurry, outscoring the Sixers by 10 points (35-25) in the third quarter and scratching and clawing in the fourth to send the game to overtime.

Let's go back to the fourth quarter. With about six minutes to go, Marreese Speights hit a jumper to give the Sixers a 98-85 lead. For nearly the next five minutes, though, the Sixers failed to score any points; meanwhile, the Wizards scored 10 and cut the lead to 98-95. Both teams traded a few buckets, and then Evan Turner hit two free throws with 27 seconds left, giving the Sixers a 104-99 advantage. John Wall then got fouled and hit two free throws, making the score 104-101. Then came arguably the biggest play in the game (at the time, at least): On the ensuing inbounds pass, Trevor Booker tied up Andres Nocioni and forced a jump ball, which he eventually tipped to Gilbert Arenas. The teams traded free throws, and the Wizards got the ball back with 11 seconds to go. Flip Saunders used a timeout to advance the ball and drew up a play, but Nick Young launched a three-pointer that either was an airball or barely touched the rim, giving the ball back to the Sixers. Luckily, though, the Wizards fouled Evan Turner on the inbounds pass, and he missed both free throws.

Still down by three with eight seconds to go, Wall hurriedly drove down the floor and then made an absolutely fantastic decision. With the Sixers looking to foul instead of giving the Wizards a chance to hit a three -- a strategy that simply has not worked in two games against Washington -- Wall pulled up from about halfway between mid-court and the three-point line and was able to draw an obvious foul by Jrue Holiday. Holiday was not expecting Wall to force a shot from that far away. Wall made all three free throws and sent the game to overtime, 106-106.

Overtime was just as exciting, or even more so, than the fourth quarter, but let's skip ahead to the final seconds. Down 114-113 after a Thaddeus Young tip-in, the Wizards drew up another play and hoped for some more late-game heroics. And they got it when Nick Young (on a pass from Arenas) hit a three-point jumper in the corner to put the Wiz up two, 116-114. I'd like to say that the Wizards ran some awesome play to get Young that wide-open three, but judging from the replay, all Young did was run down the baseline, and the Sixers simply lost track of him for a moment, which was just enough time for him to nail the shot. Andre Iguodala missed his shot to tie the game, which gave the Wizards another overtime win over the Sixers.

I apologize for the long game recap, but it really was an outstanding comeback and an exciting game (at least to listen to, for me). Wall was the story in the second half and overtime after a bad first half in his first game back from injury, but the player of the game for the Wizards has to be McGee, who had the best game of his career with 24 points (9-15 shooting), 18 rebounds, and four blocks. He also had two assists and two steals. Amazingly enough, McGee still would have had a double-double without the defensive rebounds (8) he grabbed because he had 10 offensive boards. And as I discussed yesterday, McGee has now grabbed 10 or more rebounds in four straight games. Phenomenal work, JaVale.

Back to Wall: He led the Wizards with 25 points and was 7-15 from the field -- not great, but much better than he started off the game. He also had six assists, three rebounds, and just one turnover in 36 minutes.

Playing 32 minutes off the bench (partly because of an Al Thornton injury), Young scored 19 points and was also 7-15 from the field. He even grabbed three rebounds and made four three-pointers. As for the starters (other than McGee; Wall came off the bench), Arenas had 17 points and seven assists; Andray Blatche scored 17 points and snagged 12 rebounds; Kirk Hinrich chipped in seven points and six assists; and Thornton had no points and a rebound in eight minutes before departing. Neither Arenas nor Blatche shot well, though; they were a combined 14-37 from the field (ouch).

Overall, the Wizards won a game in which they were outshot (46.2% to 43.9%), outrebounded (48-45), and out-assisted (29-25). But they made four more three-pointers and shot better from the free throw line (76.9% to 71.0%), which certainly ended up mattering.

The Wizards improved to 5-8 on the season with the win, and they travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Thursday (on TNT). Also, in just 13 games, the Wizards have already played three overtime games.

Note: According to Basketball-Reference.com, since 1986-1987 only eight other players (other than McGee) have had games with at least 24 points, 10 offensive rebounds, a field-goal percentage of 60 percent (or higher), and four blocks. Those players, in descending order sorted by points, are Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal (three times), Patrick Ewing, Elton Brand, Billy Thompson, Dikembe Mutombo, and LaMarcus Aldridge.

JaVale McGee's rebounding accomplishment

JaVale McGee is sort of a seven-foot anomaly. He's taller than most players on the court, but he's not exactly a rebounding machine. Most of that is of his own doing, as he's often out of position or more worried about going for put-back dunks or highlight plays.

But recently, there have been signs that the 22-year-old McGee may be modifying his game to be more effective. McGee, who's now in his third season, did something in the last few games that he had not yet done in his professional career: grab 10 or more rebounds in three straight games. He almost made it four games, but he only had nine rebounds against the Raptors on Nov. 16.

In the Wizards' most recent game, a loss to the Pistons, McGee snatched a career-high 16 rebounds and a stunning eight offensive rebounds. In his last four games, McGee has 47 rebounds -- and 24 of them have been offensive boards. That's impressive.

After the Pistons game, McGee received praise from both Gilbert Arenas and Flip Saunders. Here were there quotes, via The Washington Post's Michael Lee:

"He played great basketball," said Arenas . . . "He stuck to his principles. He made it easy for himself, he was getting offensive rebounds, waiting for the offense to come to him and he didn't try to do too much to get him taken out of the game like usual. He showed that if he plays the right way, he is effective out there."

[...]

"By far, his best overall game," Saunders said.

Considering how critical Saunders has been of McGee, that's a strong compliment.

It's still early in the season, but here's a quick look at how McGee's rebounding numbers stack up to his two previous seasons.

Year	Min	Reb	Off
08-09	15	3.9	1.6
09-10	16	4.1	1.5
10-11	27	7.8	3.5

A couple things first: 1) Minutes were rounded up or down, 2) "Off" = offensive rebounds, and 3) McGee played 75 games in his rookie season, 60 games the next, and has played 12 games so far this season. So, yes, it's still a small sample size for the potential new McGee. Still, though, he is grabbing offensive rebounds at a much better rate, which likely has to do with him playing more minutes. But his improved minutes and stats are also aided by better stamina and conditioning, which he should be credited for as well.

Right now, McGee is averaging 8.8 points and 7.8 rebounds while shooting 59 percent from the field. All of those numbers would be career highs.

Wiz handle Raptors without Wall, Yi

Now with a 2-9 record after last night's 109-94 loss to the short-handed Wizards, it's fair to say that the Raptors are one of the worst teams in the NBA. Still, the Wizards improved to 3-6 with the win, and they did so without John Wall, and to a lesser extent, Yi Jianlian.

The Raptors, far from a good defensive team, allowed the Wizards to shoot over 56 percent from the field and dish out 28 assists. The Wizards ended the first half with a seven-point lead and then outscored the Raptors by 15 points in the third quarter (36-21) to put the game away for good.

With Wall out, Gilbert Arenas and Kirk Hinrich started together in the backcourt, and both had solid games. Arenas scored 20 points on 7-14 shooting, including 3-6 from three-point range, and he also had seven rebounds and six assists. Hinrich was also efficient, scoring 13 points on eight shots, while also dishing out a game-high 12 assists. Andray Blatche led the Wizards with 22 points (9-13 from the field) and also had seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Rounding out the starting five, Al Thornton added six points and seven rebounds, and JaVale McGee had eight points, nine rebounds, and four blocks.

Nick Young (30 minutes) and Trevor Booker (20 minutes) both played a sizable chunk of minutes off the bench. Young poured in 20 points on 8-15 shooting and also managed to do something else other than scoring points, grabbing six rebounds. The 20 minutes for Booker were the most he's played so far in his young career, and his eight points were also a career high. Also, Hilton Armstrong scored 10 points in a productive 16 minutes off the bench.

As a team, the Wizards held the Raptors to 40.7 percent from the field and outrebounded them 47-36. The Wizards also had nine more assists than Toronto (28-19), but they did turn the ball over three more times (16-13).

After beating the Raptors in Washington, the Wizards face the Celtics in Boston today. Unfortunately, they may still be without Wall, whose status is "still uncertain." The Celtics won't roll over like the Raptors did, and Wall's presence will likely be missed much more in tonight's game.

Brief note: I realize that Young was likely to play more minutes in this game because of Wall's injury, but it's still funny to see how his minutes change from game to game. His 30 minutes last night were a season high, but he hadn't even played 20 minutes in a game since November 2 against the 76ers. I realize that Young basically is who he is at this point -- a guy who doesn't bring a whole lot to the table other than his ability to heat up and score points in bunches -- but I guess he's sort of settling into his role as the fourth guard, which essentially means that he'll see some playing time if Wall, Arenas, or Hinrich misses a game. If not, then I guess he gets to spend most of the game with Sam Cassell on the bench.

Boswell says the Wizards "need to practice"

Thomas Boswell frequently writes solid columns. His most recent column on the Wizards, though, struck me as a bit simplistic. Don't get me wrong: He brought up some interesting points and even crunched some numbers in the second part of his article (where he "added up all [players'] points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, then subtracted [their] turnovers and missed shots of any type" and compared various players. The Wizards don't have anyone elite in that category, if you were wondering). But his main point, essentially, is that the Wizards have "a chance to be a losing team, but a respectable one . . . [i]f they work hard."

Yes, for Boswell, it's about practice.

This column was primarily written because of the Wizards practice controversy on Monday, when Flip Saunders stormed out of practice and held a second one later in the day. Apparently there was a lack of effort, and also some complaining, so instead of sticking around, Saunders just rolled out. But after Tuesday's practice, Saunders seemed pleased with the level of effort at practice, saying, "We had better concentration. More concentrated effort, mentally and physically. Comprehended more things. Hopefully message delivered, message received."

I'm not saying that Saunders overreacted -- far from it. But coaches do occasionally pull stunts like what Saunders did to motivate their players. So if the Wizards do happen to beat the Rockets tonight, don't be stunned to hear about how focused the team was, or how much more effort the team exerted.

But back to Boswell's column. He also makes two other points:

• "This year's team could go either way - dramatically. They have just enough talent, plus the Wall spark, to be fun most nights. But Monday's eruption is a major red flag. The Wizards need to be honest with themselves: Less than full effort will be a disaster."
• "All in all, by this measure and plenty of others you can use, the Wizards are not doomed to be terrible. But if they want to compete with anyone, they must use every iota of ability, not force the coach to kick them out of practice in disgust."

I don't think anyone would disagree with these two statements. All fans want their teams to hustle and play hard every game, and lackadaisical effort gets booed and written about negatively. For the most part, most Wizards fans didn't see this current team as anything special (other than John Wall). I still think they'll improve on last year's 26-56 record, but a lot of that hinges on Wall's improvement, Gilbert Arenas's health, how much production the Wiz can get from Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, and several other factors.

However, if the Wizards continue to play poorly, it'll be pretty easy to blame their lack of wins on effort, or a lack thereof. Not that he's played flawlessly, but it's not Wall's fault that the Wizards don't have a great rebounder or a strong interior presence. And it's not his fault that Saunders insists on a three-guard lineup that doesn't seem to be working too well. Despite the effort/practice cliche, talent wins in the NBA. Boswell briefly touches on this later in his article when looking at the best three players on the Heat, Lakers, and Celtics -- three of the league's best teams. The Wizards simply don't compare to those teams over a full season, and no amount of hard-nosed practicing will change that.

That's not to say that the Wizards can't or shouldn't practice harder and give more effort, but sometimes that's not enough. Even Saunders would admit that.

Nick Young scores 24 in Wizards' third preseason win

This is the preseason; it doesn't count. With that being said, the Wizards (3-1) have looked impressive while also winning a few games as they prepare for their regular season opener on October 28 against the Magic.

I haven't had the chance to watch many of their games so far, but John Wall again had a decent night, scoring 19 points (on 8-18 shooting) and dishing out seven assists in 35 minutes. But he did get to the free throw line just twice, making both, and also had five turnovers. More important than the win, though, is that Wall is learning valuable lessons before his rookie season begins. According to the AP game story, he learned one last night after picking up two quick fouls:

"The second foul, I should have let it go. I should have let the play go on," Wall said. "I'm more valuable to the team than getting a cheap foul. The preseason is good for learning things that will prepare me for the season, and hopefully, in the season, I won't pick up that cheap foul."

Wall didn't need to be too hard on himself. He sparked Washington in the second quarter, when the Wizards (3-1) took control of the game. He had five of his seven assists in the period as Washington built an 18-point lead.

"You just try to get everybody involved, and whoever has the hot hand, you keep going to them," Wall said. "As a point guard, it's your role to keep everyone happy."

Obviously it's not a huge shock that the Wizards want Wall to stay on the floor and out of foul trouble, but he may also be getting a feel for how NBA officials operate and what he can and can't get away with while he matures into a better defensive player.

Starting in place of Gilbert Arenas -- more on him below -- Nick Young scored 24 points in 31 minutes and seemingly had the hot hand. He made most of his shots, shooting an impressive 10-14 from the field and 4-7 from three-point range. If he shoots that well during the season, he should find plenty of minutes as a scoring threat off the bench. Still, in typical Young fashion, he didn't have a rebound or an assist, though he did have two steals.

Rounding out the rest of the starting five, Kirk Hinrich (as the third guard) had eight points and eight assists, Andray Blatche had nine points, six rebounds, and four assists, and Yi Jianlian, starting at center, had eight points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Oddly enough, Hinrich and Yi had a combined nine field goal attempts, though Yi did get to the three throw line seven times (making four).

With Arenas out and Al Thornton nursing a left ankle sprain, the bulk of the bench minutes went to Cartier Martin (26), JaVale McGee (25), Adam Morrison (17), and Trevor Booker (15). Martin scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting and chipped in three rebounds and two assists. McGee had a strong game too, putting together a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) on 6-10 shooting and getting to the free throw line six times (making four). Morrison and Booker added five and four points, respectively.

But back to Arenas: According to Gene Wang of The Washington Post, before the game last night Flip Saunders said that Arenas wasn't going to play because his knee was "acting up" and was "a little sore." Normally that would be the end of the story for most players -- but not for Arenas. After the game, Arenas said that he wanted to give Young the chance to play, hinting that he probably could have played if he had to. Here's what he said:

"I know he's kind of frustrated he's not getting a chance to crack the three position, especially since we're going three guards, so I told him I'd go ahead and fake an injury or say something's wrong with me so you can start," a smiling Arenas said in the locker room.

When asked about the health of his knee, Arenas said, "I'm fine," and indicated he would play on Thursday in the Wizards' final home preseason game against Milwaukee.

Arenas's comments should usually be taken with a grain of salt, especially in this case because he was smiling when he said it. Still, even though it's only the preseason, Arenas took some of the spotlight off of Wall and the rest of the team to admit, or possibly make up, something that didn't really need to be revealed. If this is a sign that the fun-loving and joking Arenas is going to return, I have no problem with that if his play on the court returns to the way it was a few seasons ago too. But with the current condition of his knee, that may not be possible.

Quick update/comment: Kyle Weidie of Truth About It defends Arenas here and makes the case that if Arenas is willing to sacrifice in a preseason game, then that's seemingly a good sign for the upcoming season. He may be right, and I actually hope he's right. I just don't understand why Arenas had to say anything about it if that's what he was really doing. Maybe that's just his nature. But, to me, if he's really willing to sacrifice to make the guys around him better, he would keep these kinds of things in the clubhouse and wouldn't share them, even if he was just joking around (which is likely).

Wall displays abilities in first preseason game

John Wall probably didn't envision his first shot in last night's preseason game against the Mavericks being an errant, airballed three-pointer. Then again, it happens to everyone, and Wall said it himself after the game: "[T]he most important thing was to get the jitters out of the way. I had a lot of assists and was able to get to the free throw line." Yes, he definitely did.

Wall had 21 points and nine assists, and he also got to the free throw line 11 times (making nine of them). He didn't have the best shooting night (6-14 from the field) and grabbed just one rebound, but he also turned the ball over just twice in a whopping 38 minutes, by far a game-high (the next highest was Kirk Hinrich, who played 28 minutes). Wall also had a game-high four steals.

Andray Blatche was the game's high scorer with 22 points on 9-15 shooting. JaVale McGee added 13 points and seven assists, and Gilbert Arenas scored 12 points, including two three-pointers. Hinrich also hit two threes and chipped in nine points.

A few game notes:

- Hilton Armstrong played 21 minutes and totaled two rebounds, two steals, and a block. He also committed two turnovers. He didn't take a shot and had no points. I get that 1) he's supposed to be focused on defense and rebounding, 2) he's the backup center (for now), and 3) it's the first preseason game, but even Michael Ruffin would have taken a shot in 21 minutes. How about a put-back or something?

- Out of all the bench players, Yi Jianlian had the best game. In 22 minutes he scored 11 points on 5-11 shooting and snagged 10 rebounds. He had two turnovers, but he also blocked three shots. Not bad, Yi.

- Nick Young, on the other hand, was not good. He had only two points on 1-7 shooting in 15 minutes.

- Adam Morrison didn't get in the game. Neither did Trevor Booker, Hamady Ndiaye, or Kevin Seraphin, the team's rookies not named Wall.

The Wizards won, by the way, 97-94. Lester Hudson hit a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to give the Wizards the lead and the win. It was a big shot for Hudson, who played only eight minutes and had five points.

Sure, it was only the first preseason game, but Flip Saunders started three guards (Wall, Arenas, and Hinrich) together, and he seems to like how all three play together. If Blatche and McGee show that they can rebound efficiently enough and hold their own in the paint, I wouldn't be surprised to see Saunders use this lineup a lot, though I'm not sure if it would be able to work all that well with either Arenas or Hinrich being forced to guard a small forward for more than a few minutes. But it did work last night, so it's worth paying attention to, especially while Josh Howard is out.

Wizards continue to reshape roster, trade for Yi

Yesterday, the Wizards acquired forward Yi Jianlian from the Nets in exchange for guard Quinton Ross. Because of the difference in salaries between the two -- Yi makes nearly $3 million more than Ross -- the Wizards had to use a trade exception to complete the deal. The Nets also sent $3 million to the Wizards as part of the trade.

The rationale behind the move for the Nets was simple: freeing up more cap space to go after LeBron James and other free agents. The Wizards, however, have refused to simply clear salary and have been active in trying to acquire potential assets that can possibly help the team right now while also not significantly burdening the team financially.

Here's what Ernie Grunfeld had to say about the Wizards' philosophy (as quoted in the ESPN article above):

"We made a decision that we're going to save some of our powder for the future and try to right now put a core of young players together that can grow and we can build with, and that is the reason that we do have those opportunities right now," Grunfeld said. "Otherwise, they probably wouldn't be there for us."

Seems to make sense, right? Washington isn't a destination for big-time free agents like LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Dirk Nowitzki, etc., so what's wrong with gambling a little bit and taking some teams' unwanted parts and seeing if their stocks rise a little bit? If the Wizards are going to take on some salary right now, the ideal situation would also be to acquire some draft picks along with those players, which only happened in the Kirk Hinrich trade.

Back to Yi for a second. He's still young at 22 (even though it's possible that he's actually closer to 25) and certainly has room to improve. In three seasons, he's averaged 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds, but he has shot just 40.2 percent from the field. Last year he averaged 12 points and 7.2 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per game, but again, he shot only slightly over 40 percent (40.3). Yi isn't a great rebounder or defender and needs to improve in both areas. He also needs to improve his offensive efficiency if he's going to stick around in Washington beyond the upcoming season. (Yi has a $5.4 million qualifying offer in 2011-2012 that the Wizards more than likely will decline.)

So after the draft and the Hinrich and Yi trades, let's look at the current Wizards roster. Gone are the following: Earl Boykins, Randy Foye, Mike Miller (presumably), Josh Howard, Fabricio Oberto, Javaris Crittenton, Cedric Jackson, Cartier Martin, Quinton Ross, James Singleton, and Shaun Livingston. Livingston, Singleton, Jackson, or Martin, I guess, could always re-sign with the Wizards, but it seems less likely that will occur with each trade the Wizards make.

So, keeping in mind that the Wizards probably still aren't done wheeling and dealing, here's the group of new Wizards: John Wall, Kirk Hinrich, Yi Jianlian, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin (unless he stays in France for another season), and Hamady N'diaye. They (or most of them) will join Gilbert Arenas, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee, Al Thornton, and Nick Young.

After the moves, the Wizards' projected cap space is a little over $7 million. That's enough to sign another decent player or two if Grunfeld deems it necessary.

Are the Wizards significantly better right now because of the recent moves? Not necessarily. But they are trying something a little different, and they seem to have a plan. It's hard to get excited over Hinrich and Yi, but there seems to be a method behind the Wizards' front office madness. And there's also some guy named John Wall who should provide plenty of entertainment regardless of how the above trades turn out.

A great night to be a Wizards/O's fan

It's not huge admission to point out that being a fan of the Wizards and the Orioles (and the Redskins too, for that matter) hasn't been a rather pleasant experience lately. The Wizards finished 26-56 last season and had a drama-filled year that included 1) Gilbert Arenas and the locker room gun situation; 2) the departure of Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson; 3) the death of Abe Pollin; and 4) the battle between Flip Saunders and Andray Blatche, just to name a few. And, as for the Orioles, they appear to be headed in the right direction because of some of the pieces they possess in both the major and minor leagues, but right now they're 13-27 and have struggled to put runs on the board.

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the Wizards won the NBA Draft Lottery last night despite holding just a 10.3 percent chance to do so. (Check out this chart for a more visual display of the Wizards' chances.) As the lottery was playing out and it was revealed that the Wizards would have a top three pick, it was pretty exciting. Still, I fully believed that the Wiz were going to end up with the No. 3 pick in a draft with two no-doubters: John Wall and Evan Turner. But, again, that didn't happen, and somehow the Wizards ended up with the No. 1 overall pick.

Here were some of my immediate thoughts when this happened:

• DAGGER!!!!!!
• John Wall or Evan Turner? (I say Wall.)
• A Wall-Arenas backcourt would be thrilling to watch, but could it work?
• Kwame Brown.
• Wow, I like Ted Leonsis already.
• The Wizards wouldn't trade the pick, would they? (No!)

The NBA Draft isn't until June 24, so there's more than a month to wait until the Wizards make a selection, but it's good news that Wall seems more than content with the possibility of becoming a Wizard. These two paragraphs from that article particularly stuck out:

"President Obama can be at your games," said Wall, as he stood outside on [agent Dan] Fegan's patio. "I'll keep working hard and hopefully they'll pick me."

Fegan said he just wanted for Wall to get a "good opportunity. This is a big market with a good opportunity. I've been in situations where we wonder what the teams are going to do. This one is 'wow.'"

Wow, indeed.

As for the Orioles, they obviously didn't have an achievement on par with what the Wizards could boast, but they did turn another apparent so-so performance into an exciting one with some late-game heroics. Facing Zack Greinke, the defending Cy Young award winner, and down 3-1 in the seventh, Luke Scott hit his second home run of the game to cut the lead to 3-2. Then, in the eighth, Corey Patterson homered to tie the game (though that shot came off of Blake Wood, not Greinke).

Meanwhile, Kevin Millwood pitched eight innings, giving up just three runs, striking out seven, and amassing 120 pitches -- the most he's thrown this season. Millwood's workhorse-like outing kept the O's in the game and eventually allowed them to push the game into extra innings, when they scored on a bases-loaded single by Nick Markakis in the 10th.

It's rare enough for two of my teams to win on the same night. But it's absolutely crazy that the Wizards won the draft lottery and that the O's pulled off an exciting 10th inning comeback victory all in the span of a few hours. And, as you might imagine, it was pretty cool.

Wizards trade Jamison, then beat the T'Wolves

After the Wizards dealt Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood to the Mavericks in what was essentially a salary dump, most Wizards fans were hoping that Antawn Jamison would be the next Wizard to leave town -- not on a sour note or because he isn't a talented player anymore, but because this team needs a new direction. Relying on the "Big Three" of Gilbert Arenas, Jamison, and Butler simply wasn't working, and it was time to try something else.

Well, today the Wizards and general manager Ernie Grunfeld decided to do just that by trading Jamison to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the three-team deal that's being reported right now, the Wizards, in exchange for Jamison and Drew Gooden, will receive Zydrunas Ilgauskas and his $11.5 million expiring contract, a first-round pick from Cleveland, and forward Al Thornton from the Clippers. The Cavs get Jamison and Sebastian Telfair from the Clippers, while the Clippers receive Gooden, who the Wizards briefly acquired in the Mavericks deal.

With the trade, the Wizards gain lots of salary cap room. By dealing Jamison, the Wizards get rid of the remaining two years and over $28 million left on his contract after this season. And after the deals of Josh Howard ($10.9 million), Mike Miller ($9.8 million), Mike James ($6.5 million), Fabricio Oberto ($2.1 million), Javaris Crittenton ($1.5 million), Earl Boykins ($1.2 million), possibly Randy Foye ($3.6 million with a qualifying offer of $4.8 million), and now Ilgauskas all expire, the Wizards will be able to sign a few decent free agents if they desire.

There's no question that Grunfeld has a lot of work to do to fix this team, especially with the years and huge amount of money that is still due to Arenas. But the Wizards do have the rest of the season to see how good some of their young pieces are. Is Andray Blatche ready to step up and take over a leading role on this team? Can JaVale McGee improve his post defense and stop fouling so much? Can Nick Young prove to Flip Saunders that he's more than just a one-dimensional player? Will Foye prove that he can run the point and show that he can be a complementary piece to a winning team? How will Thornton fit in? That's a lot to find out, but those questions will probably need to be answered at some point -- along with figuring out who the next owner of the Wizards is going to be.

With some salary cap flexibility and a likely lottery pick in the upcoming draft, the Wizards have some things going for them. The next few weeks and months may get ugly, and Saunders will surely look frustrated more than a few times, but at least at this very moment there's a bit of hope that something good may be on the horizon for this team.

-----

Oh yeah, and the Wizards actually played the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight, and won, 108-99. With a starting lineup of Foye, Young, Miller, Blatche, and McGee, the Wizards started slow but eventually started to right the ship in the second and third quarters. Blatche had a huge game and led the team with 33 points on 14-22 shooting and also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Miller played a game-high 44 minutes and scored 17 points on just eight shots (and he was a perfect 5-5 from three-point range). McGee, who struggled to guard Al Jefferson in the first quarter, persevered and finished with 14 points (7-10 from the field), 11 rebounds, and five blocks.

As a team, the Wizards shot 47.7 percent from the field and outrebounded the T'Wolves 47-44. The Wizards also shared the ball for once, dishing out 10 more assists than Minnesota (24-14) and turning the ball over four fewer times (15-19).

The Wizards didn't play particularly great defense, and against good teams, such an effort would more than likely result in a loss. But the young guys got to play a bit, especially Blatche and McGee, and the Wizards hustled and moved the ball around. If they're going to play the rest of the season without Arenas, Butler, and Jamison, let them play this way, please.

Contract information via HoopsHype

Arenas admits wrongdoings in an op-ed for the Post

There's no question that Gilbert Arenas is dealing with a rather difficult situation right now. He has been suspended for the rest of the season, faces possible jail time after pleading guilty to a felony gun charge, and has lost several million dollars in the process. One of the best things that Arenas can do, though, is try to salvage his reputation by owning up to his mistakes and addressing the seriousness of what has transpired, and he has done just that in an op-ed published in The Washington Post today.

I highly encourage you to check out the whole thing, but here's the part that I felt was most interesting:

Last Tuesday, I wrote a letter to students in D.C. schools that was also about owning up to my mistakes. I said that I lost sight of the lesson I learned from Abe Pollin about how the responsibility to be a good role model comes along with the opportunity he gave me. I reiterate now the pledge I made to those students: that this is a responsibility I am not going to walk away from, that I will choose more wisely in the future and do my best to help guide children into brighter futures.

There have been few bright spots for me these past few weeks. But one came the night I played my last game this season at Verizon Center. I saw young fans were still showing up wearing my jersey. That meant more to me than I can say.

The relationship I have with young fans is very important to me. I realize now how easily I can damage it. I have to earn that respect and work to deserve it each and every day. I plan to do that work by partnering with public officials and community groups to teach kids to avoid trouble and learn from their mistakes, to strive for success by working hard and persevering, and to try to make the right choices.

Again, check out what Arenas (and his lawyers) have written. If nothing else, it shows that he's taking responsibility for what he's done and is ready to rebuild some relationships in D.C., if at all possible.

Wise provides new information on Arenas gun incident

I woke up this morning hoping to read anything other than another story about Gilbert Arenas and his indefinite suspension. And then Mike Wise had to go all journalist on us and provide the most up-to-date details on what apparently took place in the Wizards' locker room last month.

According to Wise, not only did Arenas bring four unloaded guns to the locker room, but Javaris Crittenton apparently had his own gun -- and actually loaded it in front of teammates. Here's Wise's account of what went down:

The dispute between Arenas and Crittenton began on the team plane during a popular card game between players called "Boo-ray." Crittenton lost roughly $1,100 to JaVale McGee, a Wizards center, in the game, according to a player who watched the game and who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Crittenton, already angry over a dispute over the game's rules, became irate when Arenas began needling him.

Their barbs escalated to a point where Arenas, smiling, said he would blow up Crittenton's car, according to two players on the flight, who requested anonymity. Crittenton replied that he would shoot Arenas in his surgically repaired knee.

Walking into the locker room two days after the dispute on the team plane, according to two witnesses, Arenas laid out the guns in Crittenton's locker. Two other teammates eventually sauntered in and, while Arenas was writing the note in front of Crittenton's cubicle, in walked Crittenton, according to their account.

Asking Arenas what he was doing, Arenas replied, "If you want to shoot me, I'd just thought I'd make it easy for you." As other teammates laughed, Crittenton crumpled up the paper, tossed one of Arenas's guns across the room, where it bounced in front of a team trainer, and said he didn't need any of Arenas's firearms because he had his own, according to the witness accounts.

Crittenton then drew his weapon, loaded it and chambered a round, the witnesses said.

Neither witness said the gun was ever pointed at Arenas, but both said Crittenton began singing as he held the gun.

Arenas began laughing, the witnesses said, telling Crittenton, "Look at that little shiny gun," as two other players slowly retreated to the training room.

Arenas eventually followed. By the time the players came back out, Crittenton was gone.

If this story turns out to be true, it sounds exactly like something the quirky Arenas would do for a laugh. Unfortunately, he took it too far by even thinking about bringing guns into the locker room -- and then doing it. And Crittenton's actions certainly escalated the whole thing.

I hope this story isn't true, but I do trust Wise's reporting.

In the same article, Arenas was quoted in a telephone interview and said:

"I just want to remind [NBA commissioner David Stern] of who I am. I'm the kid who jumped off the trampoline at the all-star game, the kid who throws his jersey to people in the stands. I'm not the hoodlum that's being written and talked about right now.

"I'm sorry for my teammates, the city of Washington, the memory of Mr. Pollin and his family, and all my fans that support me and the game of basketball. I mean that. This shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have got this far. I know that."

I'm glad Arenas said that, but he should have offered such a statement from the beginning. Now he's going to have to see what punishment Stern comes up with, not to mention the legal action that is surely going to be taken against him.

Cavs blow out Arenas-less Wizards

The shorthanded Wizards (11-22), playing without the suspended Gilbert Arenas (who is going to be gone for a while) and Mike Miller (who may return Friday from a calf injury), couldn't slow down the now 28-9 Cavaliers, who took care of business at home in a comfortable 121-98 win. The performance was predictable considering this was the second game of a back-to-back on the road for the Wizards -- not to mention that they were without their best player. But unfortunately, they're going to have to adjust to playing without Arenas once again.

Offensively, the Wizards were decent, shooting 44 percent from the field and hitting eight of 16 three-pointers. But strong perimeter shooting was the only thing keeping the Wizards in the game, because they had no answer for the Cavs on defense. Cleveland shot over 57 percent from the field, made 11 of 22 threes, got to the free throw line 10 more times (making 24 of 30), outrebounded the Wizards by 16 (a 44-28 advantage), and dished out 13 more assists. Also, no Wizard posted a positive +/- number -- not even Dominic McGuire in his six garbage minutes at the end of the game.

As for individual numbers, only two Wizards were particularly noteworthy. First, Antawn Jamison led the team with 26 points and did his best to try to rally the troops in the third quarter. But because of Cleveland's much bigger frontcourt, he only grabbed two rebounds. And second, Randy Foye scored 18 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Foye mainly hit jumpers but was still a very solid 8-12 from the field. That was about it. Oh, and Earl Boykins had 10 points and six assists, so that's something worth mentioning.

Also, for the second straight night, Caron Butler didn't do a whole lot. Sure, he was matched up against LeBron James, but you'd think that with Arenas out, he'd try to assert himself more on the offensive end. Instead, Butler took only nine shots, making three of them, and scored just eight points. He also had four rebounds, three assists, and a steal, but that was it. Memo to Butler: With Arenas out, you're going to have to pick things up. Where's Tough Juice when you need him?

Again, this game's result wasn't surprising. How many teams could deal with the Arenas controversy and still be able to hang with the Cavs, one of the NBA's best, on the road? The Wizards played hard; they were just overmatched from the beginning.

Latest links/reports on the Arenas gun situation

In case you haven't heard by now, according to multiple sources, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton apparently had some sort of heated confrontation earlier this season, and the two may have been holding guns during the ordeal. There are conflicting reports out right now about the severity of the confrontation between the two, but here is some of the latest information on the situation.

Marc Stein, ESPN:

A dispute that began on the team plane and resumed more than 24 hours later in the team's locker room between Washington Wizards guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton is at the center of an investigation by local and federal authorities into Arenas' recent admission of gun possession on Wizards property, according to sources close to the situation.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that an argument commenced during a card game on the team's overnight flight back to Washington from Phoenix on Dec. 19 and escalated into a heated exchange between Arenas and Crittenton. The Wizards had Dec. 20 off, but sources say the hostilities resumed Dec. 21 in the locker room on a practice day.

Sources say that Arenas, in response to what was said on the flight, placed three guns he owns on a chair near Crittenton's locker stall and invited him to pick one before practice on Dec. 21. Sources said that Crittenton subsequently let Arenas know that he had his own gun.

Michael Lee, Washington Post:

When contacted by phone on Friday, Arenas's father, Gilbert Sr., also denied that Arenas and Crittenton pulled weapons on each other. "From the respect of guns being pulled in the locker room and at each other, yes, that's ludicrous," Arenas Sr. said. "Him bringing the guns to the locker room to keep away from his kids, that's true. Gil did not pull a gun on anybody. That's about all that I can say."

. . . According to two sources close to the team, Crittenton and Arenas had a disagreement on the team plane on the Wizards flight from Phoenix on Dec. 19. The reason for the dispute is unclear, but it may have been over a card game.

A person who has spoken with Arenas recently said that the incident involving Crittenton was "nothing more than horseplay" and that there was never any intent to physically harm Crittenton. The person also said the argument between Arenas and Crittenton was over "who had the bigger gun."

Surely there's more to come, but I believe these are the two stories with the most up-to-date information. As always, it's a good idea to head over to Bullets Forever and Truth About It for more coverage on this situation and its ramifications.

Wizards hold on to defeat Bucks

Playing in the second game of a back-to-back, the Wizards survived some solid performances from unlikely players on the Bucks and held on late for a 104-102 win at home.

Despite holding Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut to 25 points and a combined (and inefficient) 11-35 from the field, the Wizards allowed starter Charlie Bell and bench players Hakim Warrick and Luke Ridnour to almost score at will. Bell finished with 15 points on 6-11 shooting, while Warrick and Ridnour each had 20 points -- Warrick's on 6-9 shooting (and an 8-8 mark from the free throw line) and Ridnour's on 9-16 shooting. If that wasn't enough, the Wizards also turned the ball over 17 times; the Bucks only had nine turnovers.

Three things saved Washington in this game: strong rebounding, good shooting, and an ability to get to the free throw line more than Milwaukee.

Rebounding: The Wizards outrebounded the Bucks 42-36, and Brendan Haywood led the team with 14 boards. Haywood also managed to keep Bogut off the glass -- he only had seven rebounds in 39 minutes.

Shooting: The Bucks made nine three-pointers, six more than the Wizards, but Washington shot better from the field -- 54.3 percent to 44.2 percent. Gilbert Arenas had a team-high 22 points, but he only made 10 of 24 shots. Nick Young was right behind him with 21 (on 7-12 shooting). Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler each chipped in 15 points.

Free throws: While the Bucks shot just 12 free throws, the Wizards shot 34, though they only made 25 of them. Butler and Earl Boykins each got to the line 10 times.

Some leftover thoughts/concerns on this game:

- I'm impressed with Young. He turned the ball over five times last night, which is too much, but he shot well from the field and seems to play well with the other starters. I wasn't sure if he'd be able to bounce back from not playing much to start the season, but he worked hard and is certainly contributing right now. I'm not sure if Randy Foye is completely healthy or not, but Young's recent play and the presence of Earl Boykins have really cut into Foye's minutes. Last night, Foye played only five minutes and didn't score a point.

- Speaking of Boykins, why exactly is he the one making plays in crunch time? Don't get me wrong, that late-game pass to Haywood for a dunk and his pump fake to get fouled with only a second or so left to win the game were both great plays, but where is Arenas in those situations? Even though things worked out this time, it's frustrating to see Arenas in the game without the ball in his hands. I never thought I'd see a crucial play late in a game where a healthy Arenas isn't the one with the ball. Arenas seems to have no problem deferring to Boykins -- but in the long run, is that a good thing?

- What was Flip Saunders's (or the rest of the coaching staff's) reasoning behind not making Boykins miss that final free throw? With that made free throw, the Bucks were able to move the ball all the way up the court and at least have a chance to win the game. Obviously the Bucks missed the shot, so it's not a big deal, but the Wizards haven't exactly been awesome when it comes to stopping plays like that. Just an odd move.

Anyway, the Wizards get a win and move to 7-10 on the season. Next up: Toronto at home on Friday.

Tuesday morning links

A lot has been going on lately, especially with some apparent chemistry issues with the Wizards. Let's get to it:

• According to Michael Lee, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler talked on the phone and have "resolved their differences." Butler also had this to say:
  

  
  "It's crazy, losing and everything. Man, it's tough," he said, "but in the midst of all of this, we've got to remain positive. That's all you can do. That's what I'm going to do. You got to find the silver lining in every situation. Collectively, we got to find a way to win games and work hard in practice. We'll see what happens."
  

  
  I really hope there aren't any serious problems between Arenas and Butler, but it's certainly possible. Teammates don't always get along with each other, but they do need to be able to play together and share the ball. And if it isn't obvious by now, the Wizards really, really need a win against the Sixers tonight. [Wizards Insider]


• Not surprisingly, the Wizards are again battling some injuries. Mike Miller is out three to six weeks with a strained calf, and Butler will be a game-time decision tonight with a sore right ankle. [Bullets Forever]


• Losing Miller really hurt the Wizards' offense. [Bullets Forever]


• What exactly is going on with Nick Young? With Miller out, this may be Young's time to shine (or at least get on the court some more). [Truth About It]


• These next two links are about a week old, but they're still worth linking to. Erik Manning of FanGraphs, using statistics from Baseball Prospectus, notes the best and worst baserunning teams. The Orioles finished last with a mark of -15 runs (which cost them maybe a win). [FanGraphs]


• In terms of individual baserunning, Melvin Mora finished tied with Jorge Posada for last place (-8 runs). It's not surprising at all to see Mora listed last; he really is a bad baserunner. Again, it's not really a huge deal, but it's certainly worth mentioning. [FanGraphs]


• Brad Bergesen is feeling much better and is able to run now. [School of Roch]


• Curious about the O's top prospects? Here's a top 13 list. [Camden Crazies]


• After tearing his ACL and MCL in the early stages of Sunday's loss to the Cowboys, Ladell Betts will miss the rest of this season and has some difficult rehab work awaiting him. But Betts is ready for the challenge: "My mindset is that I'm on the road to recovery. It's part of the game and it's part of the business. It's why we get paid the money we do, because we put our bodies in harm's way and at risk, so it comes with the territory. It's just one of the unfortunate parts of being a football player." [Redskins Insider]


• With Betts out and Clinton Portis still dealing with post-concussion issues, Rock Cartwright took advantage of the opportunity and had a great game in Dallas. He'll get the chance to be the main ball-carrier this week as well. [Mike Wise]


• With Betts, Chad Rinehart, and Eddie Williams all being placed on injured reserve, the Redskins have signed two players: running back (and familiar face) Marcus Mason and offensive guard Paul Fanaika. The third spot should be filled at some point later in the week. [Redskins Blog]

Wizards fall to Thunder, 127-108

First off, one quick thought: "Thunder" is a horrible team name. That's not anything particularly enlightening, but it just doesn't sound right. Then again, maybe Wizards doesn't either.

Now, here are some game thoughts:

• Even though the Wizards were outscored in every quarter and never held the lead, this really was a game of runs. Almost every time the Wizards tied the score or cut into the lead, the Thunder answered on the offensive end. A lot of that is bad defense by the Wizards, but Oklahoma City deserves some credit for staying poised.


• For the most part, the "Big Four" got theirs: Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Brendan Haywood scored a combined 83 points. Arenas had 23 points and eight assists, Jamison had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Butler scored 24 points (with four rebounds and four assists), and Haywood scored 14 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.


• Mike Miller, the fifth starter, somehow played 35 minutes despite being in obvious pain with a shoulder injury. He had a decent all-around game, but he still scored just five points and accumulated just two rebounds and two assists -- plus he took only four shots. I respect Miller's toughness, no question, but if he's not healthy, he shouldn't be on the floor.


• Unfortunately, the bench didn't play particularly well in this game. The starters played big minutes -- all were on the floor for at least 35 minutes -- so there weren't a whole lot of minutes to go around. Still, Earl Boykins got a bench-high 17 minutes (more on Boykins below), Andray Blatche played 15, and DeShawn Stevenson and Randy Foye each had 12. Blatche was relatively ineffective, scoring only six points and taking a few ill-advised jump shots instead of knocking down open ones like in previous games. Blatche shot fine (3-7 from the field), but he only grabbed one rebound and had a lazy turnover in the second half that looked like the old Blatche (dribbling behind his back in traffic for no apparent reason). Foye only took two shots and scored one point; is his ankle still bothering him?


• What exactly is Boykins's role? Is he the backup point guard? I guess he is, and for the most part, I don't have a problem with that. Boykins played the entire fourth quarter and took all seven of his shots then (making five), scoring 11 points. But when Boykins is in the game, he has the ball a ton and dribbles a lot, which means Arenas doesn't have the ball. At least for right now, I'm not a huge fan of the Boykins-Arenas backcourt.


• To be blunt, the defense was terrible. Before this game, the Wizards allowed their opponents to shoot 44 percent from the field -- ninth-best in the league. Last night, Oklahoma City shot 53 percent from the field and 52.4 percent (11-21) from the three-point line. Kevin Durant was unstoppable, scoring 35 points by repeatedly slashing into the lane. Rookie James Harden was almost just as good, scoring 25 points (with four three-pointers) in 26 minutes.


• Turnovers were a problem again last night. In the win over the Cavs, the Wiz turned the ball over only 12 times, yet last night they returned to form, giving the ball away 20 times. Through 11 games, the Wizards are tied for ninth in turnovers per game (15.2). Also, Arenas is averaging a league-high 4.1 turnovers per game.

Obviously this wasn't a particularly well-played game for the Wizards, but they were still in the game until Oklahoma City's big run in the fourth quarter. There's still a lot to work on, but hopefully the awful defense in this game doesn't become routine.

Next up for the Wiz: At San Antonio