With Wall out, guard leads Wizards to win
The shot clock wound down, and Gilbert Arenas leaned forward with his dribble, sizing up his defender. Standing just outside the 3-point line, the next move seemed obvious: a long, pull-up jumper.
Instead, Arenas calmly weaved into the lane and popped the ball back out to Andray Blatche for a wide-open 3-pointer.
The next possession it was Arenas’ turn, with a swift three of his own in transition, and the back-to-back buckets launched the Wizards into a dominating third quarter and a decidedly easy win over Toronto, 109-94.
With 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Arenas returned the favor for the Verizon Center fans who have graciously welcomed him back, particularly the modest 11,513 who saw him make his way into Washington’s starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 5 — the final game before he was suspended for the remainder of last season.
“It surprised me, especially when I had a rough summer, and the stuff I’m reading,” Arenas said. “I thought the fans was just going to murder me, because I was here with Kwame Brown. I was expecting the same thing so they tricked me a little bit.”
With Arenas and Kirk Hinrich (13 points, 12 assists) running the show against the Raptors (2-9), the Wizards (3-6) barely missed a beat offensively on Tuesday despite the absence of rookie point guard John Wall (left foot sprain) and reserve big man Yi Jianlian (right knee bone bruise, hyperextension).
Arenas’ assist to Blatche (22 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and 3-pointer kicked off a third quarter in which Washington outscored Toronto, 36-21.
Nick Young made the most of the team being without Wall, with 20 points off the bench, including 14 in the first half. But it was Arenas who followed his 30-point outburst at Chicago over the weekend by setting the tone with a 3-pointer on the Wizards’ first possession. He also displayed a refreshing fearlessness attacking the basket.
“Just from seeing him play the last game, I see that he was getting his confidence back,” Blatche said. “I was hoping and I was praying that he had the same confidence and the same courage to come out and do it at home, which he did. It’s great to have him play at a high level.”
Both Wall and Yi are listed as day-to-day but will travel with the Wizards to Boston, where they will face the Celtics on Wednesday.
“I talked to John yesterday, and I tried to explain who Wally Pipp was,” joked Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. “He wasn’t really sure, and I said, ‘You know who Lou Gehrig is? That’s why you don’t know who Wally Pipp is.'”
