The AP reports: Reserve Roger Mason pumped in five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter in leading the Washington Wizards to a 104-99 victory over the Seattle Supersonics on Wednesday night. Mason, averaging 8.6 points coming in, finished with 22 points. He matched his career high with six 3-pointers. Caron Butler had 21 points; he’s averaging 27.8 points in his last seven games against the Sonics. Kevin Durant scored 32 points for the Sonics. Damien Wilkins and Jeff Green each contributed 13 points, while Nick Collison matched his career high with 21 rebounds.
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Mar. 25: Blazers 102, Wizards 82
The AP reports: Martell Webster had 23 points, Travis Outlaw added 20 and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the loss of top scorer Brandon Roy to beat the Washington Wizards 102-82 on Tuesday night. Jarrett Jack added 17 points and Joel Przybilla had 17 rebounds for the Blazers, who shot 49.4 percent despite Roy leaving with a strained right groin on the last play of the first quarter. Portland was already without LaMarcus Aldridge, the team’s second-leading scorer who sprained an ankle Monday against Seattle. Caron Butler had 19 to lead Washington, which was missing Gilbert Arenas after he had his return from knee surgery pushed back a week… Antonio Daniels had 14 points and eight assists for the Wizards, who had won six of their last seven. Leading scorer Antawn Jamison struggled, with nine points and eight rebounds on just 3-of-13 shooting.
Wizards-Pistons team connections
Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace was selected 4th overall by Washington Bullets in the 1995 NBA Draft, and averaged 10.1 points per game for the Wizards in 65 games during the 1995-96 season.
Wallace and Antonio Daniels were teammates during the 2002-2003 season with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Pistons guard Richard Hamilton was selected 7th overall by the Wizards in the 1999 NBA Draft, and averaged 15.6 points per game in 212 games for the Wizards from 1999-02.
Pistons guard Juan Dixon was drafted with the 17th overall pick by Washington in the 2002 NBA Draft, and averaged 8.2 points per game in 176 games as a Wizard from 2002-05.
Pistons swingman Jarvis Hayes was selected 10th overall by the Wizards in the 2003 NBA Draft, and averaged 8.9 points per game in 226 games for Washington from 2003-07…Pistons rookie guard Rodney Stuckey was drafted by Detroit with the 15th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, one spot before Washington picked Nick Young with the 16th overall selection.
Wizards center Brendan Haywood had a career-high 23 points vs. Detroit on November 29, 2003.
Wizards-Heat team connections
Wizards forward Caron Butler was drafted by the Miami with the 10th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft.
As a rookie in Miami, Butler averaged 15.4 points per game and was named to the 2002-03 NBA All-Rookie First Team, but was later dealt to the Lakers in the trade that brought Shaquille O’Neal to South Beach.
Butler, 28, and Miami’s Dwyane Wade, 26, have been friends and rivals since their AAU days in the Chicago-Milwaukee area.
Washington’s Andray Blatche and Miami’s Dorell Wright attended the same Connecticut prep school, South Kent Prep, but missed playing together by a year.
Blatche played at South Kent in ‘04-‘05 during Wright’s rookie year with Miami.
Gilbert Arenas speaks on his status
Gilbert Arenas on his knee: “Everything is healing. They want me to wrap (my knee) up and go full speed. I’m going to test it out tonight on the practice court. I’m going to give it a real hard workout and see how it feels in the morning.”
Arenas on his first game back: “They say that when I do go back, it will just be an assist-game for me. They don’t want me to go in there jumping or being acrobatic.”
Arenas on what he expects from himself upon his return: “They told me that this year I won’t be me. Don’t go back and try to be me. I have to come back as an assist man. I have to try to stay out of going to the hole, and I have to be careful.”
Arenas on the timetable for his return: “I’m hoping to play this season. I want to play. It’s hard when you have done something your whole life and then it gets taken away from you. Hopefully I can get back out there.”
More on his injury: “They haven’t actually cleared me to play. I’m just going to practice hard today and tomorrow and the next day, and then see how it feels. If it feels the same as it does now than I might just play, because that means it’s not getting any worse. My main concern is not getting hurt again.”
Players of week are Stoudemire, Jamison
The Washington Wizards’ Antawn Jamison and the Phoenix Suns’ Amaré Stoudemire today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 10, through Sunday, March 16.
Jamison led the Wizards to a 3-0 week, with wins over the Clippers, Cavaliers and Bucks. After collecting two double-doubles on the week, Jamison’s 37 double-doubles stand as the second highest total in the Eastern Conference (Dwight Howard, 59). Jamison averaged 25.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals during the undefeated week, helping Washington move above the .500 mark for the first time since Feb. 5.
Stoudemire led the Suns to a 3-0 week, with all three victories coming against Western Conference opponents. Stoudemire averaged 32.0 points on .660 shooting from the field, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 blocks. The back-to-back 30-point, 10-rebound efforts on March 13 and March 15 marked the third time this year that Stoudemire recorded consecutive 30-point, 10-rebound games.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala, Cleveland’s LeBron James, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Orlando’s Rashard Lewis, Houston’s Tracy McGrady and Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki.
Wizards-Clippers team connections
Gilbert Arenas was raised in Los Angeles and starred at Ulysses S. Grant High School in Van Nuys, CA.
Nick Young attended Cleveland HS in Reseda, CA, and played collegiately at USC.
DeShawn Stevenson (Washington Union HS, Fresno, CA) and Dominic McGuire (Lincoln HS, San Diego, CA) also played high school ball in California.
Clippers center/forward Aaron Williams was a member of the same New Jersey Nets Eastern Conference Champion squads for which Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan and Associate Head Coach Mike O’Koren served as assistants.
Williams appeared in 81 games for the Wizards during the 1999-00 NBA season…DeShawn Stevenson and Clippers guard Cuttino Mobley were teammates in Orlando for a short stint in 2004-05.
Clippers guard Brevin Knight appeared in 32 games for Washington during the 2003-04 season.
Nick Young talks about scoring 22
Washington Wizards swingman Nick Young shot 9-of-15 for 22 points in a win over the Wizards yesterday. Here’s what he said today:
Nick Young on how he felt after scoring a career high 22 points: “I slept pretty well. I talked to my mom. She said I played a good game yesterday. I was kind of excited.”
Young on how his friends and family reacted to last night’s game: “They were surprised. They knew I always had a little bit of talent and they were just happy to see me play hard.”
Young on playing Cleveland: “We’re playing at home. We’re in a playoff race. We need a win. We need all the wins that we can get. We’re just going to out there and play hard.”
Antawn Jamison speaks
Antawn Jamison on the current home stand: “This is one of the last home stands of the season. This is an opportunity for us to get some home cooking. We play a game and get a day off after every game. At this point in the season, you don’t get many opportunities like that. Hopefully we can get some healthy bodies out on the court as well. We can really start to see what type of team we’re going to be heading into the next month and hopefully the playoffs.”
Antawn Jamison on Caron Butler’s play in practice: “He looks quick. He looks lively. The key is how he feels later on tonight. I think he’ll give it another practice before he plays in a game. He looked pretty good. We’re going to see what happens once he gets some ice on him and gets an opportunity to rest.”
Antawn Jamison on Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas: “It’s good to see those guys moving around and getting closer and closer to playing. We’d like to see them out there but we’ve got to be patient. It’s almost like Christmas…you’re counting down the days until you can finally open the presents. It would be nice to see number zero and number three out there on the basketball court.”
Wizards-Bobcats team connections
Gilbert Arenas (31st overall) and Charlotte guard Jason Richardson (5th overall) were both 2001 draft picks of the Golden State Warriors.
Washington and Charlotte sport a combined five former North Carolina Tar Heels — Brendan Haywood, Antawn Jamison, Raymond Felton, Sean May, Jeff McInnis — and two more ex-Heels on the bench; Washington’s Mike O’Koren and Charlotte’s Phil Ford.
Jamison and McInnis were college teammates…McInnis played 35 games for Washington in 1998-99.
Jamison attended Providence High School in Charlotte, NC.
Brendan Haywood attended Dudley High School in Greensboro, NC.
Antonio Daniels and Bobcats guard Derek Anderson were teammates in San Antonio in 2000-01 and in Portland in 2003-03…Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Bobcats guard Earl Boykins were teammates in Golden State in 2002-03.
Darius Songaila played collegiately at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC.
Bobcats center Othella Harrington played collegiately at Georgetown University.