Nets (0-2) at Wizards (1-1)
Stats guys have at it: When was the last time five players started a home opener for a team who missed last year’s home opener or didn’t play for the team at that time? Gilbert Arenas (knee), Randy Foye (with Minnesota), Mike Miller (with Minnesota), Fabricio Oberto (with San Antonio) and Brendan Haywood (wrist) will be added to that list tonight.
Foye replaces Caron Butler, who will sit out after bruising his left knee diving for a loose ball in last night’s 100-89 loss at Atlanta.
“Caron will not go tonight,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. “He’s got a slight bruise of his kneecap. It’s more precautionary than anything else. We think that he’ll definitely be ready for us on Tuesday [at Cleveland]. But we’re going wait right now… He had both an X-ray and an MRI and there’s nothing structural so nothing to be overly concerned with… He’s had knee issues in the past so he wanted to be more cautious about it than jump into something. I think he feels a lot better now that we’ve had it looked at.”
On the other bench, Devin Harris will sit out with a sore right groin. The Nets’ lineup: Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Yi Jianlian and Brook Lopez.
One observation made: Antawn Jamison going through a good workout on the court, looking fine putting up shots.
One observation to look for: Miller taking a three-pointer.
