Without Arenas, Go-To Guy Needed

MIAMI, April 11 When games were close, the Washington Wizards always had the luxury of giving the ball to Gilbert Arenas and allowing him to make a play that would decide the game.

Arenas, who missed his fourth straight game Wednesday with a left knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season, made game-winning shots against Milwaukee, Utah and Seattle and clinched a win over Golden State by making three free throws with less than a second left.

Without Arenas and Caron Butler, who remains out with a broken bone on his right hand, the Wizards have been competitive, but have struggled to make plays down the stretch in close losses to Charlotte, Cleveland and New Jersey (twice). But Coach Eddie Jordan said the problems have gone deeper than simply not having Arenas.

"Even when we had Gil, we lost some close games because we didn't chase down a rebound," Jordan said. "I can remember the last time we were here [in Miami] we missed two big rebounds and Udonis Haslem hit the shot. So, I know Gil's won some games for us, obviously. But for us, it has to be, over the course of 48 minutes, let's manage the game to where it doesn't come down to that one play. If we don't play the correct way, then we're not going to be there at the end."

The Wizards forced overtime at New Jersey on Saturday because Antawn Jamison made a three-pointer, but the Nets took over in overtime. And they lost to the Nets again Tuesday night when DeShawn Stevenson missed two shots that would have given the Wizards a lead.

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