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In Hot Streak, Arenas Has Words for Bryant
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Arenas later apologized, and after the game Friday said he had moved on -- sort of.
"I wasn't mad at D'Antoni or Nate McMillan," he said. "They didn't have a part in" picking the roster for Team USA. "I know if they did, I would have been on it. But I knew I had to back up what I said."
Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said he saw no extra spark in Arenas's eyes.
"He is motivated all the time," Jordan said of Arenas. "He got 60 against the Lakers, and nothing happened there. It wasn't about this summer. He wants to win. This is one of his great games."
After starting 4-9, the Wizards (14-12) are two games over .500 after finishing the first of their two long West Coast trips 3-1.
Nash, the league's two-time defending most valuable player, had 42 points and 12 assists, his 13th double-double in the last 16 games, and several times was serenaded with chants of "M-V-P."
"I respect my elders," said Arenas, third in the NBA in scoring, when asked if he belonged in the MVP conversation this season. "We're two different types of players. He's more of the traditional point guard. I'm more of a scoring point guard."
Starting when the Wizards stopped Dallas's 12-game winning streak Dec. 4 at Verizon Center, Arenas has scored 38, 38, 32, 41, 34, 27, 60, 23, 30 and 54 points -- an average of 37.7 over the run.
Arenas took a long look at the Suns' bench after hitting a 35-footer in the final second of the first quarter to give Washington a 39-28 lead, but he said it was more about game strategy than payback.
"I knew they had a foul to give," Arenas said. "I heard them on the bench saying, 'Foul, foul, foul.' I was looking to say, 'Yeah, you should have fouled.' "
