Wizards Focused Solely on Bucks

Gilbert Arenas had no plans to monitor games played by the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls last night, even though the outcomes of those contests could impact where the playoff-bound Wizards open the postseason.

"The way I look at it, there is no need to watch them because if we handle our business, we don't have to worry about what everybody else is doing," Arenas said after a brief practice at Verizon Center yesterday. "Right now, it's beat Milwaukee. That's all we're focused on."

The Wizards (40-40) enter tonight's game against the Bucks at Verizon Center in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Wins tonight and at Detroit tomorrow night in the regular season finale would clinch the fifth seed and set up a first-round series with LeBron James, Larry Hughes and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sunday's 104-92 win over Cleveland gave the Wizards a 3-1 victory in the season series and fueled perceptions that Washington's best possible first-round matchup would be against the Cavaliers.

If the Wizards drop to the eighth seed, they would play top-seeded Detroit. If they are the seventh seed, they would face second-seeded Miami, which owns a 16-game winning streak over the Wizards. And a sixth-place finish would mean a meeting with New Jersey, the No. 3 seed.

The Nets have won 17 of their last 20 games and are 2-1 against the Wizards this season.

The Wizards wouldn't be in the position of needing a win tonight had they not suffered last-second losses to the Bucks twice this season. The Bucks pulled out a 105-102 victory at Verizon Center on Dec. 2 when guard Maurice Williams beat the buzzer with a game-winning three-pointer.

That possession was set up by a tough play at the other end, where Arenas was called for charging into Bucks guard T.J. Ford before Arenas could release a game-winning shot attempt.

Then, last Wednesday night at Milwaukee's Bradley Center, the Wizards took a one-point lead with 28 seconds remaining on Antawn Jamison's three-pointer, but Michael Redd put the Bucks ahead on the next possession when he posted up against Antonio Daniels and made a turnaround jump hook in the paint.

Trailing by one with less than 19 seconds remaining, Arenas had the ball at the top of the key with a chance to win the game. He drove left and tried to freeze Ford with a pump fake but Ford reached in and stole the ball. After a quick foul by Arenas, Ford secured the 100-97 Milwaukee win with two free throws.

The Wizards faced several tough questions after last Wednesday's loss. Why didn't Coach Eddie Jordan send a double-team at Redd, who is two inches taller than Daniels, on Milwaukee's final possession?

Also, why would Arenas, who is four inches taller than Ford, even bother with a pump fake? Why not either attack the basket or simply pull up and shoot over the shorter opponent?

"I've gone through that play a bunch of times in my head, thinking about what I should have done," said Arenas, who averaged 29.5 points in the two losses to the Bucks. "But you know what? There's going to be another game and hopefully it doesn't go down to the wire. If it does, I'm just going to jump as high as I can and shoot over him. I tried to outthink him on that one and he got me."

The Wizards will look like a different team tonight because forward Caron Butler will be in the lineup for the second straight game after missing five games with a sprained right thumb. A native of Racine, Wis., which is about 45 minutes south of Milwaukee, Butler was crushed to miss Wednesday's game against the Bucks.

He had about 60 family members in attendance but was forced to watch the loss -- Washington's fourth straight -- from the bench in a suit and tie. Butler showed little rust in Sunday's playoff-clinching win over Cleveland, with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals.

"Now that we've established ourselves as a playoff team, it's real important for us to continue to win," said Butler, who scored 27 points in the Dec. 2 loss to Milwaukee. "You want to go into the playoffs with some momentum, regardless of who you play. We can't be comfortable. We're in but we're still hungry. We want more."