BOSTON, Dec. 31 -- The highest-scoring trio of teammates in the league had been reduced to a duo Friday afternoon, but Washington Wizards guard Larry Hughes and forward Antawn Jamison informed leading scorer Gilbert Arenas not to worry.
"We told him that we'd hold it down," Hughes said after he matched his season high with 33 points. Although Hughes displayed never-before-seen marksmanship from beyond the three-point line -- where he made 6 of 6 shots -- and Jamison awoke from a scoring slump with 29 points, the Wizards were unable to overcome the absence of Arenas, who was forced to sit because of dehydration and flu-like symptoms, or the Boston Celtics during a 108-103 loss at FleetCenter.
Guard Steve Blake, starting in place of Gilbert Arenas, can't keep the Wizards from losing in Boston, 108-103.
(Winslow Townson - AP)
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_____Wizards Insider_____
WizardsInsider
WHO'S NEXT?
vs. Hawks
Tomorrow, noon
WBDC-50
WWRC-1260
BOSTON, Dec. 31 -- Point guard and leading scorer Gilbert Arenas missed his second game of the season Friday because of dehydration and flu-like symptoms, but the Wizards are fortunate he wasn't in much worse condition. Arenas called himself "lucky" after surviving a horrific night in his hotel room in which he fainted twice and had to be rushed to a local hospital to receive stitches on his head and intravenous fluids.
Arenas complained of a fever on the team flight to Boston on Thursday and took some medication, which he said made him dizzy.
"They gave me some drowsy medicine to put me to sleep," he said. "That's why I passed out, I didn't have any fluids in my system."
Arenas said he cut the left side of his head after falling in the bathtub. "I just remember going to the restroom and waking up in the tub with blood in the back of my head," Arenas said. "I think I got knocked out twice. I felt myself getting out of the tub, but when I woke up again, I was on the floor."
Arenas immediately called head athletic trainer Eric Waters to take him to the hospital, where Arenas received fluids and three stitches. Saying that he had a fever of 102 degrees, Arenas looked noticeably ill before the game, sipping Gatorade while lying on the trainer's table in street clothes.
He tried to convince Coach Eddie Jordan that he could play, but Jordan informed him about an hour before the game that he wouldn't play.
"It was my call," Jordan said. "I thought a 50 percent Gilbert wasn't going to help us, and a 100 percent Gilbert was going to help us on Sunday" against the Hawks. . . .
Forward-center Kwame Brown missed his second consecutive game with a strained tendon in his right ankle. Jordan said he didn't anticipate having Brown until the Wizards play New Jersey on Tuesday. "He's still sore," Jordan said. "We initially said, seven days. Sunday will be five. It's his call but he'll probably be a little bit tender." . . . Jordan said he expects to have forward Etan Thomas (abdominal strain) by mid to late January.
-- Michael Lee
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The Wizards (15-13) lost for the seventh time in 10 games and enter the new year still trying to solve what has become a mystery of late -- how to finish games. Failure to close out the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat and the defending champion Detroit Pistons wasn't acceptable but understandable.
The Celtics, however, entered the game having lost three in a row -- and the Wizards have had little trouble this season against losing teams. But not this day, as the Wizards failed to hit shots down the stretch, made a costly turnover and complained to the officials.
"We're playing good basketball. We're just not winning games," said Hughes, who scored 30 or more points for the second game in a row and tied the game at 103 with 57 seconds left.
But after guard Paul Pierce made a free throw to give the Celtics a one-point lead, Hughes tried an off-balance, fallaway jumper. "I thought I had a good look," Hughes said. "It just didn't go in."
Instead, the ball bounded off the rim and right to forward Jarvis Hayes, who lost the ball before he could dribble.
Jamison jumped up in protest, screaming toward an official, and Coach Eddie Jordan, who had earlier removed his tie in frustration, raced onto the court to complain. "I've got to look on the tape to be sure, but I thought something happened there," Jordan said.
Jordan didn't have to look at the tape to notice that his team attempted just one free throw in the second half, compared with 20 by the Celtics, who scored the final five points of the game from the free throw line. Jordan was asked if the Wizards' failure to get to the line was related to not having Arenas, who likes to penetrate to the basket and leads the Wizards with an average of six free throw attempts per game. "Is that a relation to not having Gilbert or something else?" Jordan asked back. "Something else that I don't want to get fined for. Twenty to one. You do the math. We're driving to the basket. We're competing on the glass."
Still, the Wizards trailed 106-103 with 11 seconds left and had an opportunity to send the game into the overtime, but Jamison missed a wide-open three-pointer from the left corner. Brendan Haywood (13 points) set a wicked pick that sent Celtics reserve Tony Allen tumbling and left Jamison all alone.
"I was too open," said Jamison, who scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and gave the Wizards a short-lived 100-99 lead with two minutes left. "I've just got to knock down that shot. We had a good opportunity to play extra minutes, but it didn't happen that way."
The Wizards lost for the first time in nine games this season in which they had more assists (25) than their opponent (18). But the Celtics had a much more balanced attack, with Pierce leading six players in double figures with 26 points. He also attempted eight free throws to the Wizards' 10.
The Wizards will have Arenas back for the Atlanta Hawks game on Sunday, although he had a scary night in Boston. Arenas had a fever and passed out twice in his hotel room, forcing him to go to a local hospital to receive three stitches on his head after falling in the bathtub. He also received fluids to combat dehydration. He watched the game from the locker room while second-year point guard Steve Blake started in his place.
Since starting 12-6, the Wizards have been moving in reverse. They failed to become the first team in 20 years to record a winning month in November and December. They finished 8-8 in December. "We were one game short of the number of games we wanted to win," Hughes said. "I think in the long run, these games help us and we'll definitely start winning these games."
Said Jamison: "I don't like the record. I like the effort. We've just got to keep our focus and stay positive."
And look forward to a new year.
