Star guard finishes with 10 assists in win
RICHMOND – After two injury-marred seasons, Gilbert Arenas began the preseason by over-delivering and starting where he left off last April.
Following the 20 assists he registered in his only two games last year, Arenas set up Washington’s first seven field goals before scoring any points and played more than 24 minutes during the 101-92 win over Memphis in front of a sellout crowd at VCU’s Verizon Wireless Arena.
Arenas finished with 5 points and 10 assists, setting the tone by leaping over the scorers’ table — and landing on his feet, unharmed — as he intercepted a pass three minutes into the game. With more than 11 minutes on the court in the first quarter alone, Arenas played more than the 8-10 minutes head coach Flip Saunders had predicted earlier in the day.
Using a combination of compresses and massage to keep left knee warm early in the second quarter, Arenas then returned for the final five minutes of the half and played the first seven minutes after halftime before taking a seat and wrapping the knee in ice.
In his first game on the Wizards’ sideline, Saunders waited until the second quarter to use Washington’s three newest acquisitions — Randy Foye, Mike Miller and Fabricio Oberto — giving Nick Young (11 points) the start with Arenas in the backcourt.
Brendan Haywood (6 points, 7 rebounds) also returned to center after missing most of last year with a wrist injury, joining veterans Antawn Jamison (20 points, 8 rebounds) and Caron Butler (15 points, 6 rebounds).
Lionel Hollins made his Grizzlies coaching debut with a roster nearly the opposite of Washington’s, with five rookies but without recently-signed 13-year free agent Allen Iverson.
Iverson was dressed but did not play after pulling his left hamstring during an intrasquad game on Sunday.
Mike Conley led Memphis with 12 points and Zach Randolph had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
