Jamison Displaying His Strong Points

The Wizards have come to expect the sensational from Gilbert Arenas this season, and Caron Butler has been playing like an all-star on a nightly basis as well. But opponents also must be aware of forward Antawn Jamison, who scored a season-high 35 points in Friday's 99-96 win at Detroit and then scored 34 in Sunday's 105-91 win at Boston.

Jamison was fresh after getting a couple of days of rest before Friday's game and is playing with a playoff-like intensity.

"Back-to-back nights from our captain," Coach Eddie Jordan said. "See, Antawn understands what we are. He understands that these are the types of games we have to win."

Jamison is a streaky shooter but said he's trying to mix up his jump shots with drives to the basket. He also said he's "dialed in" right now from long range.

"For me it's just a matter of time," Jamison said. "I don't know what the case is. I don't know if it was all the travel this summer, but I started off slowly again and my teammates did an awesome job as far as holding down the fort and now I feel pretty good."

Said Butler: "He's killin' right now and that's really going to put teams in a bind. You've got Gilbert doing his thing, you've got Antawn making big shots and scoring points and then you've got me. Who are you going to load up on?"

The Wizards will need Jamison to be on his game tonight against the Pistons.

"Oh, they're going to come out playing hard," Arenas said. "You know that guys like [Chauncey] Billups and Rasheed [Wallace] are going to want to send a message after the other night. We have to play well."