Washington
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The injury bug burrowed deep and early into this Wizards team and has emerged with a renewed appetite. Just when injuries throughout the season such as to Etan Thomas and Larry Hughes seem to subside, new ones take their place. There may soon be more Wizards injured than are available to play. The latest casualty is All-Star Antawn Jamison.
Jamison will miss tonight's game against the Knicks as he recuperates the tendonitis in his right knee which has kept him from his All-Star-form. He sounded as if he would miss the rest of the week, which fortunately includes just the Knicks tonight and then nothing until Boston on Sunday. Given that that's a road game the night before a back-to-back at home against the Lakers, he might be best served sitting that one out too. Nevertheless, all indications are that Jamison will remain with the team during the trip and simply sit out the games.
Etan Thomas, meanwhile, did not make the trip, as he is sidelined with the flu. Jarvis Hayes is out at least a month with a broken kneecap. Jared Jefferies will be a game-time decision. And that doesn't include the two perennially "injured" Wizards constantly taking up space on the list: Peter John Ramos and Samaki Walker.
The best thing that can be said is that the Wizards have always seemed to find the right pesticide for the injury bug. Early on, it was Jamison and the backcourt duo of Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes carrying the team despite the absence of Thomas and Kwame Brown. Now, with Hughes coming back from his injury and Arenas likely recuperated from his aching left knee of the previous game, the Wizards will rely on the recently resurgent Brown to help fill the void at power forward left by Jamison's injury.
Jamison's league-record 386 consecutive games streak snapped, so perhaps the term iron-man is no longer applicable in strict technicality, but you have to wonder: is this not one of the NBA's most resilient teams? And doesn't it bode well that they are still the fourth seed in the playoffs based on the current record?
NEXT GAME
The Wizards (33-25, second in the Southeast) visit the New York Knicks (25-34, fourth in the Atlantic) TONIGHT. The game starts at 7:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on CSN and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
Greg Sandoval ofThe Washington Post notes:The last three games have vindicated Haywood -- or so he says. A month ago, Haywood blamed a drop in production on the loss of Hughes, who had broken his thumb during a Jan. 15 game against the Suns. Nobody on the team was better than Hughes at finding Haywood in scoring position. Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan saw things differently. "Larry Hughes is not going to put a chair under [Haywood's] legs so he can block a shot coming down the lane," Jordan said. "He's got to do it himself." But in the three games since Hughes has returned, Haywood has matched his season high in points (22), and also grabbed more than 10 rebounds (11) and blocked more than two shots in a (4) in a game for the first time since Jan. 22.
INJURY UPDATE
Peter John Ramos(foot),Jarvis Hayes(knee), andSamaki Walker (lower back) are all on the injured list.Jared Jefferies(knee) is out about a week.Etan Thomas(stomach virus) andAntawn Jamison (knee) are questionable for tonight's game.
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: Antawn Jamison will have his NBA-leading consecutive games streak snapped at 386 tonight when he sits out against the New York Knicks with tendinitis in his right knee.Even though the Wizards' captain was given no timetable for his return, he sounded upbeat. "I'm encouraged by the news that I received from our doctors," Jamison said.
Greg Sandoval ofThe Washington Postwrites: Jamison, a key figure in the Wizards' turnaround this season, underwent an MRI exam yesterday that revealed no structural damage to the knee, said Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld, who added that he doesn't expect Jamison to be out long.This is the time of year when NBA franchises begin to feel the aches and pains of an 82-game season, Grunfeld said. The Wizards are as beat up as anybody. Last week, the club announced that swingman Jarvis Hayes will miss four to six weeks with a broken right kneecap. He joins Thomas, Larry Hughes, Kwame Brown, Steve Blake and Juan Dixon as Wizards who have spent time on the injured-reserve list this season. Guard Gilbert Arenas, the club's leading scorer, complained about a sore knee over the weekend, but it is not expected to force him out of the lineup, Grunfeld said.
Kimberly Hayes Taylor ofThe Detroit Newswrites: Famous quitters Michael Jordan: The man who led the Chicago Bulls to six championships suddenly retired from basketball in 1993 to pursue a baseball career. He turned to basketball again in 1995, then retired again in 1998. He went on to head the Washington Wizards and returned to the game again as a Wizards player in 2001.He finally quit basketball — maybe for good this time — after the 2002-2003 season.