By Ivan Carter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 4, 2007; E01
Five seconds were left. Four were left. Then three. A Verizon Center crowd of 14,632 began to panic, figuring there was no way Gilbert Arenas would have time to break a tie with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Arenas had just crossed midcourt when he looked up at the clock above Milwaukee's basket and sized up the man assigned to him, Charlie Bell. With a simple flick of a wrist, Arenas released a jump shot from 32 feet that obediently fell through the net.
Ballgame.
The shot gave the Wizards a 108-105 victory, avenged a 17-point road loss to the Bucks on Saturday night and was the latest sign that Arenas, who will celebrate his 25th birthday tomorrow, deserves to be listed with the biggest stars in the game.
As the ball fell through, Arenas wheeled and stoically walked back toward the Wizards' bench, as if he'd just won a game of H-O-R-S-E in someone's driveway. Bucks guard Michael Redd watched Arenas's reaction, shook his head and started laughing before walking off the court.
"Once I let it go -- you know I'm looking at it -- and I'm like: 'Oh, that's in. I don't even need to look at this one,' " said Arenas, who overcame a sore right shoulder to finish with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in 44 minutes.
Arenas's winner capped a wild finish that featured several key plays for the Wizards (18-13). The first came with 1 minute 44 seconds remaining, when Antawn Jamison (22 points, nine rebounds) made a 20-foot jump shot over Milwaukee's zone defense to give the Wizards a four-point lead.
However, Redd (27 points) drew a foul on DeShawn Stevenson and made a pair of free throws. After Caron Butler was stripped by Mo Williams, accounting for one of Washington's 17 turnovers, Redd scored on a fast-break layup to tie the game at 105 with 1:14 left.
Stevenson drove and passed to Brendan Haywood, who was fouled. Haywood missed both free throws and the Bucks got two shots at taking the lead. Bell missed a jump shot and, after an offensive rebound by Andrew Bogut, Bell missed an open three-pointer from the corner.
Jamison snagged the rebound and passed to Arenas, who took two quick dribbles before slowing down. Arenas took a look at the clock above the Milwaukee basket and sized up Bell, who waited a couple of feet in front of the three-point arc.
Arenas calmly dribbled with his right hand and then pulled up before Bell could react.
"I thought I was there, I had a hand up," Bell said. "He's a great player. That was a little deeper than I expected. I thought he was going to take one more dribble. They said he has no conscience and he doesn't. He shoots it from anywhere with the same confidence."
Kobe Bryant made a similar statement with far less reverence after Arenas torched him and the Lakers for 60 points in an overtime win in Los Angeles on Dec. 17, but that performance was only a warmup for Arenas, who has been the hottest player in the NBA for a month.
None of Arenas's teammates was surprised that he took such a long shot or that he made it.
Said Stevenson: "As soon as I saw him dribble up, I knew he was making it. He makes that shot all the time in practice."
Butler, who kept the Wizards in the game early by making his first nine shots en route to finishing with 29 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds, was open on the final possession but knew Arenas wasn't passing.
When the shot went in, Butler sprinted toward the tunnel, pausing only to rip off his jersey, a la Arenas, and toss it into the stands.
"We all was open but we knew he was going to shoot that ball," Butler said. "We knew it was going in also. We all just ran off the court. I don't know where my jersey went. I was so excited. I just threw my jersey. That was my first time. It seems to work for him. I'm seeing if it will work for me."
Arenas's postgame session with reporters was nearly as entertaining as his game-winning shot. The man who has dubbed himself the "Eastern Conference Assassin" and "Agent Zero" and who yelled "hibachi" after making big shots early in the season, talked about the "swag" he's playing with lately. He appeared to be genuinely shocked that anyone would put limits on his basketball talents.
"I'm 8 for 8" on shots of more than 30 feet, Arenas said. "I don't know why this is a surprise to you guys now. That's an easy shot for me."