When news hit that Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas would miss at least three months to rehabilitate his surgically-repaired knee, it looked like the Wizards’ season would be mailed in right along with Eddie Jordan’s ticket out of town. But oh, what a difference 10 games makes, as the Wizards have come out on the winning end of seven out of their last ten, including a Monday night win over the Western Conference powerhouse Dallas Mavericks.
Where Arenas was doing his best to play into his usual swag, forwards Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison have reminded Wiz fans and the rest of the league why they are the forgotten members of the Eastern Conference all-stars. Combining for 62 points and 14 rebounds on Monday against the Mavericks, the duo has averaged 63 and 18 over the last four contests.
Eddie Jordan should get a lot of the credit for this turnaround, as a lot of pressure for scoring has become easier with the emergence of post players Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche. Haywood, who started off the season in the top five in double-doubles, has maintained a solid presence in the post. Blatche, in more of an active role this season off the bench, has provided a reliable scoring option in the post, which has allowed for more operating room for Jamison and Butler outside of the paint.
And don’t look now, but the Wizards are only 4.5 games out of the conference-leading Boston Celtics, and show no signs of slowing down.
There’s no question that minus a solid scoring threat like Arenas, the scoring must be spread around more members of the starting unit, but Butler, Jamison and the rest of the Washington Wizards are showing that two out of three really isn’t that bad.
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