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The AP reports:
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Rookie John Wall got his first professional triple-double with 19 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 98-91 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
Yao Ming missed most of the game after he strained a tendon in his leg in the first quarter.
Washington used a 10-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away after blowing an 11-point lead…
Kevin Martin scored 31 points for the Rockets, who have lost six of seven.
Sports Network reports:
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Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas is set to make his season debut Friday against the New York Knicks, according to the team’s Twitter feed.
The post said, “A quick update from New York. Gilbert Arenas will play tonight!” Arenas practiced Friday morning and was earlier considered a game- time decision.
Arenas has missed the Wizards’ first three games of the regular season with a strained tendon in his right ankle and strained right groin.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports (via blog):
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Gilbert Arenas will miss at least the first two games of the regular season because of a strained tendon in his right ankle. Arenas missed his fourth straight practice on Wednesday and walked around the RDV Sports Complex in Orlando while wearing a protective boot.
Coach Flip Saunders said that Arenas will be re-evaluated, but ruled him out for the season opener on Thursday against the Magic and on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks. After practice, Arenas huddled with Saunders and President Ernie Grunfeld for a few minutes.
“He’s going to have a doctor look at it again,” Saunders said. “So he wont be here for these two. We’ll evaluate him and hopefully these days in the boot will let that [heal]. Right now the tendon’s inflamed, we’ve got to get that thing to settle down. Once it settles down and some of that fluid gets out, he’s probably going to have a better chance of playing. That’s at least what the medical staff tells me.”
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has waived center Sean Marks and forward Adam Morrison.
Morrison averaged 5.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in five preseason contests for Washington, while Marks did not appear in a preseason game. Both players originally signed with Washington on September 24.
The Wizards roster now stands at 15.
Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has waived guard Javaris Crittenton. In four preseason appearances, he averaged 3.3 points, 1.8 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 13:27 minutes.
Crittenton has played in 113 career NBA games for the Lakers, Grizzlies and Wizards, averaging 5.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 16.4 minutes. The two-year veteran was initially selected by the Lakers with the 19th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
The Bobcats roster now stands at 17.
The Philadelphia Daily News reports:
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The Washington Wizards guard’s latest escapade took place Tuesday, when coach Flip Saunders announced before a preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks that Arenas would miss the contest with a sore left knee.
But Arenas revealed after the Wizards’ 107-92 victory that he pretended to have a bum knee to give teammate Nick Young a chance to start. He told reporters yesterday that he was trying to do Young a favor.
“I lied to coach and told him my knee was sore so he’d start Nick,” Arenas said.
Arenas was fined an undisclosed amount by the Wizards for his deception. It was another blow to the image of a player who is still trying to recover from his 50-game suspension and felony conviction for bringing guns into the locker room last season.
InsideHoops.com editor says: So Gilbert, with his years of injury problems, just now coming off suspension and making his comeback, thought that lying to his coach and pretending to be hurt was a smart move. That’s some brilliant decision-making right there! Seriously, what the heck?
Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.
An InsideHoops.com front page poll asking fans to predict the eight Eastern conference teams that will qualify for the 2010-11 NBA playoffs had the following results:
Celtics 2,046 votes
Heat 2,045 votes
Magic 2,011 votes
Bulls 1,985 votes
Hawks 1,886 vote
Bucks 1,658 votes
Bobcats 1,011 votes
Knicks 1,074 votes
Wizards 637 votes
Sixers 481 votes
Pistons 336 votes
Nets 333 votes
Cavaliers 333 votes
Pacers 229 votes
Raptors 173 votes
Fans felt that the six teams — the Magic, Celtics, Heat, Bulls, Hawks and Bucks — are strong locks to make the playoffs.
After those teams, the Bobcats and Knicks came in next, with the 7th and 8th highest votes.
InsideHoops.com editor says: These are some pretty fantastic results. Look at the top eight teams, in order. That’s pretty close to what an East power ranking list should look like.
Missing the playoffs but getting good support were the Wizards, receiving the 9th highest votes.
The NBA has fined Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis $100,000 for unauthorized public comments regarding the league’s collective bargaining negotiations, it was announced today. Leonsis made his comments earlier today.
According to Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman newspaper, “Leonsis earlier today told business leaders in Northern Virginia that he expects the league will soon have a hard salary cap.”
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed forward/center Andray Blatche to a contract extension and has exercised its fourth-year option on center JaVale McGee. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not released.
“Andray and JaVale are two pieces that we feel can solidify our frontcourt for years to come and extending their contracts certainly fits in with our long-term plan of rebuilding this team with a core of young, talented players,” said Grunfeld. “Both players performed very well over the second half of last season and we’re confident that they will continue to develop and build on the potential and promise that they have shown throughout the beginning stages of their careers.”
Blatche averaged career-highs of 14.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 81 games for the Wizards last season. The sixth-year big man increased his productivity in the 32 games following the All-Star break, averaging 22.1 points and 8.3 rebounds while posting five games of 30+ points and 10+ rebounds during that stretch. Blatche finished with 24 games of scoring 20+ points and 16 double-doubles on the year while leading the team in games played, minutes, field goals made & attempted, steals and free throw attempts. He has increased his scoring and rebounding averages in each of his five seasons since being acquired by the Wizards in the second round (49th overall pick) of the 2005 NBA Draft.
McGee averaged 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds last season while ranking ninth in the NBA with 1.7 blocks and first in the NBA in blocks per 48 minutes (5.01). Like Blatche, he increased his numbers after the All-Star break, averaging 10.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks (including 13.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game during the month of April). McGee, who was selected by the Wizards with the 18th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, has participated in the USA Basketball Men’s National Team mini-camp for the past two summers and was tabbed as one of 15 finalists for the team’s 12-man roster for the 2010 World Championships.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports (via blog):
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Javaris Crittenton is hoping to return to the NBA after accepting an invitation to try out for the Charlotte Bobcats in training camp, his agent Mark Bartelstein said on Tuesday.
The other half in the infamous altercation with Gilbert Arenas involving guns in a Verizon Center locker room, Crittenton is coming back after missing all of last season, with the final 38 games lost as the result of a season-ending suspension from NBA commissioner David Stern. But that embarrassing incident — which led to Crittenton receiving one year of unsupervised probation and a $1,250 fine after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge in January — overshadowed the fact that the 6-foot-5 point guard was going to miss the entire year anyway because of a severe left ankle injury.
