The trip is daunting enough without losing a top player, one who happens to be an All-Star. There are five games in seven nights, including a pair of back-to-back games. It’s not a scenario a team nursing a narrow division lead wants to have.
And yet, there was Wizards coach Eddie Jordan, a day before embarking on the trip, offering optimistic expectations.
“I want tokeep up with Detroit,” Jordan said. “I want to sweep the whole trip.”
Five wins out West might be asking a lot. But even without Caron Butler, the Wizards can at least enter the swing with reason for hope.
Not only is their bench playing better, their opponents aren’t exactly on fire.
Portland has lost four straight and eight of its last 10 games. Seattle is 4-6 in its last 10; the Los Angeles Clippers, playing without injured point guard Shaun Livingston, have lost seven of 10. Not that it’s all easy: Golden State has won three straight and Utah is in first place in the Northwest Division (despite four straight losses).
Still, the Jazz are the only team over .500 Washington will face on the trip. Not that the Wizards enter overconfident; after all, they lost consecutive games to Atlanta and New York earlier this month.
“There’s definitely an opportunity to take advantage of it,” reserve guard/forward Jarvis Hayes said, “but you can’t look at them too lightly because we can lose those games if you come in with the mindset that it’s an easy win.”
They at least cleared one hurdle Saturday, winning a game minus Butler. They had lost eight straight without him, dating to last season.
But the bench has played better of late, particularly forward Darius Songaila.
“It’s the right time to have [the bench] develop and for the right trip,” Jordan said.
It also helps that All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas is hot. In the past six games, he’s made 22 of 43 three-point shots. And he’s scored 30 or more points in four of his last seven games, making this his best stretch since the end of December and the start of January.
“I’m king of the castle,” Arenas said Saturday night.
But he said the team is moving the ball better. And being pushed by Miami for the Southeast Division lead helps.
“Miami is on our heels and we don’t want to give up that spot now,” he said. “If they win out, we have to win out. Until they take it away from us, we’ll hold onto it.”
Wiz notes
» The Wizards (36-28) hold a one-game lead over Miami in the Southeast Division. But they’ve fallen four games behind Cleveland for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Washington is 1-5 in its last six road games and 11-19 overall away from Verizon Center. The Wizards are 3-7 against the Western Conference on the road this season.
» Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas hasn’t forgotten about his promise to score 50 points on Portland this season. He failed in his first attempt, scoring just nine points in a loss to the Blazers on Feb. 11.
» Second-year forward Andray Blatche is expected to start in place of Caron Butler against Portland. However, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said either Jarvis Hayes or Michael Ruffin would start against New Orleans this past Saturday — and Blatche ended up with the first unit.
