Butler Starts, Wizards Finish, Halt Losing Skid

Wizards 116, Nuggets 110

DENVER, Dec. 21 -- There weren't many Washington Wizards fans inside Denver's Pepsi Center Wednesday night, but one young fan who came to the game wearing Wizards colors spoke for everyone associated with the struggling team when he held up a sign that read: "All I want for X-Mas is a Wizards win."

With Caron Butler in the starting lineup for the first time, the Wizards sported a new look. It was the play of the team's two stars, Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison, however, that allowed the Wizards to snap a three-game losing streak with a 116-110 victory over the Nuggets, who have now lost four straight. It was Washington's first road victory since a double-overtime win at Detroit on Nov. 25. The Wizards (10-14) will end a five-game road trip Friday night in Phoenix.

Arenas finished with 36 points and a season-high 11 assists. His biggest basket was a three-pointer he made with 1 minute 10 seconds remaining. It pushed the Wizards ahead, 110-100. Jamison, who had been in a brutal shooting slump that stretched back seven games, scored nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, two of them on a tough fadeaway jumper from the baseline on which he was fouled by the Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony. Jamison completed the three-point play to put the Wizards ahead by seven.

Another big shot was made by the man who was replaced by Butler in the starting lineup, Antonio Daniels. On the possession before Arenas's three-pointer, Daniels hit a baseline jumper that he managed to release over the outstretched arm of Denver center Marcus Camby. Daniels had his most efficient offensive performance of the season, making 4 of 5 shots and scoring 12 points in 28 minutes.

For the first time this season, all five Washington starters scored in double figures. Butler finished with 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds before fouling out with five minutes remaining in the game.

"One of the players said it was good to get the monkey of our back and another player said that monkey was King Kong," Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said. "We stayed really positive and we never wavered in our support of each other. We still have a long way to go but guys played hard for each other tonight and didn't worry so much about themselves. Everybody contributed."

The Wizards had lost six consecutive games to the Nuggets, including a 108-105 loss at MCI Center on Nov. 22, and hadn't won in Denver since March 2002. Denver was led by Anthony, who scored 29 points, and guard Earl Watson, who helped erase a 10 point, third-quarter Washington lead by scoring the first eight points of the fourth quarter during a 10-2 Nuggets run.

The Wizards bounced back and pushed their lead back to five when Jamison hit a running jump shot in the lane after taking a pass from Michael Ruffin. It was that shot, Jamison said, that convinced him that his shooting woes were over and allowed him to confidently take the baseline shot over Anthony that helped push the Wizards to victory.

"The toughest thing for me was knowing that if I would have played better, we wouldn't have lost six of our last seven games," said Jamison, who finished with 20 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in the same game for the 10th time this season. "I've never been as mentally down on myself as I've been lately. Not answering the phone, not wanting to talk to anyone, I've been in a funk. It's been tough. I can go with not playing well but I can't go with not winning basketball games."

Jamison's performance was matched by several teammates. Brendan Haywood, who leads the NBA in field goal percentage, made his first six shots and wound up 6 of 9 with 14 points and six rebounds. Jared Jeffries, who briefly left the game in the third quarter after hurting his right wrist, played shooting guard for the first time this season and made 4 of 5 shots en route to 10 points. The bench, which consisted of Chucky Atkins, Daniels, Ruffin and Etan Thomas, shot a combined 10 for 13 and scored 25 points.

"It was just good to see everyone get involved tonight -- Antawn, Caron was aggressive, Jared played great defense, Etan, Antonio hit some big shots -- we just played real well as a team," Arenas said. "That's how we're capable of playing, so it was nice to come out, get a win and build a little bit of confidence in ourselves."