Wizards Insider

To borrow Michael Lee's phrase from his postgame thoughts, Friday night's game will be remembered for the Wrath of Tawn.

Nothing pretty about the 102-86 loss to the Pacers in Indianapolis. Antawn Jamison, to his credit, spoke up and let his teammates have it. But other than that, there wasn't much in the way of highlights. Certainly not in the box score. Well, Brendan Haywood getting 19 rebounds looks impressive.

The Washington Times was also on hand for this listless performance.

Not a good way to end the week. And look, the Phoenix Suns are coming up. The same Phoenix Suns team that just knocked off the previously undefeated Celtics at home.

As usual, the highlights courtesy of NBA.com, such as they are:

Around the league...

We had 13 games on Friday and plenty of highlights, from the Cavaliers' LeBron James dropping 33 on the Knicks at MSG to the Blazers sporting "Rip City" jerseys in a home win over the Spurs to the Lakers' Kobe Bryant scoring another 41 at home against Allen Iverson and the Memphis Grizzlies.

Speaking of Iverson, he gave an entertaining interview to Yahoo Sports.

Here's NBA.com's Daily Zap to get you caught up on Friday's slate (yes, we know it says Monday, but it was just mislabled):

Simple question: What happened out there?

Andray Blatche buttoned his shirt, pondered his answer, but the words couldn't come out. He threw on his black bubble-vest coat, still struggling to explain the most troubling loss of the season for a Washington Wizards team that entered this season with high expectations.

"I don't know. I swear I don't know what to say after that one," Blatche said. "Tough one. This whole game, I'm just speechless. I can't say nothing about this game."

Blatche was probably spooked by the Wrath of Tawn. Antawn Jamison isn't expected to be back in uniform for another week or so because of his sprained right shoulder, but that doesn't mean that he isn't passionate about the direction of his team. So, after watching his teammates lose their third in a row -- an embarrassing blowout to a struggling team that entered the game with just one win -- he couldn't sit back and let them leave Indianapolis without giving them a piece of his mind.

Trust me, the audio could never be replayed in front of children.

In a loud, profanity-laced tirade, Jamison lit into his teammates, cursing them for what he considered a lethargic effort. No one was spared, and when reporters were allowed to enter the locker room, it was obvious that nothing, not even the fruit tray, was spared. It had been tossed into a corner, shattered to pieces, with fruit and candy scattered everywhere.

The Wizards gave a truly pathetic performance on Friday night and never seemed like they wanted to compete. Brendan Haywood was active, grabbing a career-high 19 rebounds. Caron Butler was also aggressive, though not especially effective, as he had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Randy Foye had some moments, providing 16 points off the bench. But the entire effort of the team was disjointed and left everyone, from players to coaches, frustrated and upset.

"I'm disappointed," Coach Flip Saunders said. "I thought our effort was poor. You have to play hard and play with intelligence. I didn't think those guys did those two things."

Arenas was extremely passive against the Pacers, never taking time to try and have an influence on the outcome. He scored just two points in the second half, taking four shots. It would be one thing if Arenas was in play-making mode, trying to set up his teammates and collecting assists. But he only finished with four assists. In the Wizards two wins, he's averaging eight assists.

And, as evidence of his lack of aggression, Arenas attempted just four free throws. I know former Georgetown center Roy Hibbert had five blocked shots, but that has never kept Arenas from attacking the hole before. After the game, he explained that he was trying to get his teammates more involved after taking 27 shots two nights before against Miami. Arenas is still struggling to find that middle crowd. It often seems to be extremes with him.

He credited the Pacers, who definitely played as a team, even if they didn't always play well. They shot just 40 percent from the floor and had just four more rebounds, but they hustled for more loose balls and were the more aggressive team from start to finish.

"They just outworked us today," Arenas said. "We're not getting five guys to play hard out there. You got the whole team playing hard, they can beat anybody no matter what kind of talent they have on that team. We just couldn't get it together."

Wizards starters: Gilbert Arenas, Nick Young, Caron Butler, Fabricio Oberto, Brendan Haywood

Pacers: T.J. Ford, Brandon Rush, Dahntay Jones, Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert

Line: Pacers by 1.5.

Shaquille O'Neal's hard foul on DeShawn Stevenson has officially been upgraded to a flagrant one penalty foul. O'Neal flattened Stevenson in the second quarter of the Wizards' 102-90 loss in Cleveland on Tuesday, delivering a body shot and a chop to the head that elicited cheers from Cavaliers fans. Stevenson said he landed on his surgically repaired back and received some treatment after developing a "knot" on his shoulder.

"Part of basketball," Stevenson said. "He hit me and I fell straight on my back. I'm alright, though. I think it's just he's a big dude, small dude got fouled."

At halftime, O'Neal apologized to Stevenson for nearly decapitating him. "I known Shaq since the summertime. We hung out a lot," Stevenson said. "Shaq's like that. If he likes you, he apologizes, if not he might say something smart. He apologized. That let me know, it wasn't something serious."

Antawn Jamison said on Friday that he has been progressing as expected but doesn't have a target date for his return. The Wizards estimated that he would be gone four to six weeks from the initial injury, suffered in a preseason game on Oct. 14. Next week would be the fourth week.

"If it was up to me -- you know," Jamison said, without even stating the obvious -- he'd be out there right now. "They just want to make sure it heals. Don't rush anything and make sure it's set in place.

"As far as what I'm doing, I'm going hard. They allowed me to go hard when I work out," he said. "I'm pushing it. rehabbing has been going hard now. We're doing any and everything we want to as far as range of motion. We just make sure we give it the proper time to rest and heal and take it from there. I feel good."

As Jamison was talking, Brendan Haywood walked by and joked, "He's coming back tonight."

Jamison laughed. He added that he has been lifting for two weeks and started participating in non-contract drills. He said he'll wait until the time is right before he returns.

"That's on the training staff. They've done a great job of making me feel back to normal. I've been shooting it with no kind of limitations whatsoever or running and things like that," Jamison said. "I just haven't been able to do any kind of contact. Whenever they allow me to do that, I think it's a go."

Nick Young got his first start of the season after the Wizards lost Mike Miller for what is expected to be another week. Miller sprained his left shoulder in the second half of the Wizards' 93-89 loss to the Heat on Wednesday. He initially left the game to get some treatment and returned to play seven minutes. Coach Flip Saunders said that he has no qualms about putting Miller back in, even though Miller aggravated the injury when he landed on the same shoulder after getting fouled by Miami's Earl Anthony.

"When I'm out there coaching, they just tell me if the guy can play or not," Saunders said. "Like I told our guys at the beginning of the year, I can't judge guys whether they're hurt or not hurt. They have to be able to do that. It was kind of freak type thing in that he probably hurt it more when fell down on it, the second time. If he hadn't fallen down, would he have been okay? I don't know."

Saunders said he already knew that Miller was pretty tough, but that was supported by the fact that Miller came back and still contributed despite the injury. "He made four plays with one arm. The rebound, two assists, the three-point play," he said.

He added that Miller would be missed, since he was averaging 8.4 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 56.5 percent from the floor and 60 percent from beyond the three-point line. "It will hurt us a little bit not having, but it's early in the season, so it's a thing that gives other guys opportunities," he said. "I think he'll be back sooner [than the estimated timetable]. The thing is, he can't hurt it any more. It's just a matter of getting the swelling out, getting the soreness. When that's done. he's got pretty good range of motion."

Saunders also explained why he elected to go with Young over Randy Foye, who played well starting at shooting guard last Saturday against New Jersey. "I know what Randy can give us coming off the bench and I thought if you put him in there with other group, you know that he'll not only be able to score but being able to lead us," Saunders said. "I didn't feel comfortable putting all those young guys on the floor at the same time."

Caron Butler has been struggling to get into the flow most of the season, but Saunders said that he expects his two-time all-star forward to find his rhythm again.

"The Cleveland situation, even though he had a good game early, he's matched up against the best player in the league [LeBron James], so offense is almost his second focus," he said. "Last game is one of those situations where you fall behind by 19 and it's like a running team in football and now all of sudden, you've got to starting passing. Gil did some things to try to take over the game and we almost kind of forgot about him at times. We've got to make more of a conscientious effort to get him more shots and not just for him scoring wise, but for him as a playmaker. He averaged four assists last year, so he can do that to."

Like the Wizards, Indiana (1-3) has been dealing with injuries early in the season, with Mike Dunleavy still recovering from right knee surgery and Troy Murphy going down on Tuesday with a bruised lower back. The Pacers are coming off their first win of the season, defeating the New York Knicks, 101-89, on Wednesday. Here's what else you need to know about the Pacers.

Thanks for giving me a little space, little man. (AP Photo)

1. This is a special night in Indianapolis as the Pacers will have a special tribute to the late Mel Simon, who with his brother Herb bought the team in 1983 and made sure it didn't leave. Indiana will also celebrate the 10th anniversary of the opening of Conseco Fieldhouse, which is one of, if not the coziest basketball venues in the NBA. Unfortunately for the Wizards, it's also a place where they haven't had much success lately. The Pacers have won the past three games at home against the Wizards, including a 124-115 win in their last meeting in April.

2. Danny Granger wants to be a winner now that he's been an all-star. Until then, his leadership will be questioned. Granger has been slumping since opening the season with 31 points against Atlanta. The past three games, he's shooting 35.2 percent while averaging 20.3 points. He averaged 29 points against the Wizards last season.

3. Former Georgetown center Roy Hibbert might be developing into a low-post presence for the Pacers. He's coming off the first two double-doubles of his career and averaging 10.8 points and 10.3 rebounds.

In a rather surprising move, Wizards Coach Flip Saunders has decided to insert Nick Young into the starting lineup against Indiana in place of the injured Mike Miller. Miller sprained his left shoulder during the Wizards' 93-89 loss against the Miami Heat on Wednesday and isn't expected to return until next week at the earliest.

Young didn't play against Miami, receiving his second DNP-Coach's Decision of the season, and has been used sparingly in the other three games. Young, a third-year guard, has scored just nine points in 27 minutes this season, after averaging 10.9 points last season. He started the preseason opener against Memphis but his inability to grasp Saunders's system on both ends of the floor pushed him out of the rotation. He missed his first nine field goal attempts of the season.

Randy Foye started at shooting guard against New Jersey on Saturday but Saunders said he wanted Foye to get used to his routine as the combo guard off the bench with the ability to play either backcourt position. Saunders also said that Young has been playing well in practice, which led to this temporary promotion.

"It's another opportunity," Saunders said. "I'm giving him a shot to see what he can do."

Young didn't respond well the last time he was placed in a similar position. After Caron Butler injured his left knee in Atlanta, Saunders let Young start the second half but he quickly sat down after missing his first two shots.

"When you're on a team where there is a lot of competition at those spots, what you need to do is take advantage of any opportunity you can get," Saunders said. "Usually good players, that's what they do."

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are iconic figures in NBA history. Long-time Wizards fans are no strangers to their last-second heroics and impossible shots. Their story (singular, since they will always be tied together) is immensely familiar and has been told many, many times in print and on video.

So 30 years after they entered the NBA and 25 years after their first epic Finals showdown, along comes "When the Game Was Ours," a book by Bird and Johnson co-authored by Jackie MacMullan. The book, out this week, has already drawn headlines for what Johnson said about Isiah Thomas. Many have weighed in on that aspect, including a thoughtful piece by our very own Michael Wilbon.

Putting the juicy publicity aside, what does this book add to the Johnson-Bird conversation? "This is our story, from the two people who lived it," Bird writes in his introductory essay.

This is kind of accurate. The book is actually not written in their voices, though they are prominently involved. Other key figures fill in the blanks (teammates, coaches, family members) and it unfolds like every other story about them, with each chapter covering a major snapshot of their lives. All the battles, college and pro, are chronicled and the famous story behind the making of this Converse commercial -- the day they went from bitter rivals to competitors with a healthy respect/admiration for each other -- is also in there.

Where the book does fulfill its promise is when we see their interactions up close. The chapter titled "November 7, 1991" (the day Johnson announced he was HIV-positive) tells the story of how Johnson broke the news to Bird. We glimpse just how shaken up Bird was, and how much they truly valued each other. It's also nice to learn more about their time playing on the same team in the World Invitational Tournament in 1978, and how that tied into Johnson coaxing Bird into playing on the 1992 Olympic team.

Ultimately, the book doesn't feel like the definitive account that its introductory essays hint at. But for the most part, it's a story told well, and having Bird and Johnson on hand is an asset. And for those of us who came of age watching this time in NBA history, the book serves as a way to reminisce.

In this morning's newspaper, Michael Lee writes about how the Wizards' offense is not flowing. And here on the blog he asks if Mike Miller should have returned to Wednesday's game after hurting his shoulder.

Also, DC Sports Bog notes that the Wizards' television ratings are up this season.

In the Washington Times, Mike Fratto reports on Antawn Jamison's recovery from his shoulder injury.

Here is further analysis of Wednesday's game from Bullets Forever's Mike Prada and Truth About It.

Elsewhere in the league:

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix examines the New York Knicks' "dangerous" plan to save salary cap space in hopes of luring LeBron James, who makes his first trip this season to Madison Square Garden tonight. James, a front-running Yankees fan, will surely get Knicks fans excited when he arrives in his "NY" cap.

Oooh...ah. No, that really hurts. (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

There were a number of troubling developments from the game last night, but the most glaring was the sight of Mike Miller cringing and grimacing as he sprinted off the floor with a left shoulder injury. Miller is the third Washington Wizard starter to go down with an injury, and he is expected to miss the next seven to 10 days.

But did it have to come to that? Miller proved that he is one tough dude when he suffered a mild left shoulder sprain early in the third quarter and returned to play about seven more minutes. Miller got hurt when he attempted to run through a screen. His arm immediately went limp but he played for a few seconds more before Flip Saunders sent DeShawn Stevenson into the game.

Miller groaned and grimaced as head athletic trainer Eric Waters tried to work with his left arm. He later ran to the tunnel and his night likely should've been over.

But it wasn't. "It went numb, but I thought I could come back," Miller said after the game.

When Miller returned to the bench, Saunders received word from the team medical staff that he was good to go. "They said he thought he felt pretty good, give him a shot to let him go," Saunders said. "I put him in to see how he was doing. At the time we put him back in, the team was playing good and he was playing good. but when he went down again, I said, 'that's enough.' "

Miller went down in the worst possible fashion. But even before he made that left hand layup and crashed on his left shoulder after a collision with Miami's Earl Anthony, there was a huge hint that it probably wasn't the best idea to have him on the floor at that point. Miller palmed a rebound with his right hand and didn't bother lifting his left arm. That's not good. After falling on his shoulder, Miller was doubled over and attempted to play defense with his left arm pressed against his body.

"It was hurting, I'm sure the kind of fall he took, it didn't help," Saunders said. "I thought he was pretty good with one arm, to be honest."

Miller made plays, but at what cost?

Asked after the game why he even came out, Miller made it sound like he was disappointed that the Wizards medical staff kept him from going back in after he aggravated the injury. "I don't like to sit out," Miller said. "It's early in the season. If it had been late in the season, I would've tried to keep going and sometimes you got to listen to [the medical staff]. I feel pain, but I'll be all right. Not where I wanted it to be. I hope I can be a quick healer and we'll see what happens."

We had a double dose of Michael on hand for Wednesday night's 93-89 loss to the Miami Heat. Lee not only wrote the game story, but he also gave us the big picture in his postgame blog post. Meantime, Wilbon writes about Dwyane Wade, who dropped 40, while also taking inventory of the Wizards' situation.

The D.C. Sports Bog writes about the latest Wizards injury, this one to Mike Miller. Imagine that. It had been days since the last one.

Here's how the Washington Times saw it, and here's the game story from The Miami Herald. The Herald also took note of Michael Beasley's homecoming, which he handled much differently than last season.

NBA.com's highlights package:

Flip Saunders thought the final minute of the game wasn't as important as the first nine minutes, when the Washington Wizards sleepwalked, turned into spectators to the Dwyane Wade show and found themselves down by 19 points. But even after that miserable start, the Wizards were in position to beat the Heat. Instead, they beat themselves.

The final 90 seconds almost made the valiant comeback unnecessary, because it basically turned what could've been a more acceptable blowout loss on the second end of back-to-back games into an excruciatingly painful loss. After Gilbert Arenas dribbled down the clock, drove left around Heat point guard Mario Chalmers and made a difficult, hanging layup over Jermaine O'Neal, the Wizards led 89-87. The Heat responded with an O'Neal jumper to tie the game and it started to unravel for the Wizards from there.

Wade blocked Caron Butler's drive to the basket, and when Butler appeared to make amends -- he forced a turnover by deflecting Wade's pass -- DeShawn Stevenson grabbed the ball, drove the length of the court, got fouled and missed both free throws. Wade, doing what superstars are supposed to do, took advantage of the mishap and buried a jumper in Stevenson's grille.

It finally was Arenas's turn and it was obvious that it has been more than two years since he was placed in a position to win a game on his cartoonish shoulders. Where there once was calm, Arenas (32 points) appeared frazzled and it led to some sloppy, almost gruesome results. First, he drove into the lane and the ball squirted from his hands before he could draw a foul on O'Neal. Then, after Wade (40 points) made one of two free throws, Arenas had the ball in his hands with a chance to tie the game.

The man who thrilled the Verizon Center with his fearless, late-game shots, decided it was best that he pass -- to Brendan Haywood; to the bemusement of everyone in the arena. Arenas threw a lob that hit the rim and bounced out of the reach of Haywood. Asked about the play afterward, Arenas said, "Obviously it hit the rim. That's it. I mean, it's not rocket scientist."

Rocket scientist? Yep. It was that kind of night. Even the words came out wrong.

You knew this wasn't going to be easy this month. The schedule was unkind from the beginning, and the injury bug continues to be unmerciful to the local five. Already playing without Antawn Jamison, the Wizards had to play the second half of a loss against Atlanta without Butler. And, part of the reason that the Wizards didn't attempt a late three-pointer when they were down by three is because their best three-point shooter was in the locker room, receiving treatment for a left shoulder injury.

Mike Miller will be gone for at least the next seven to 10 days after spraining his left shoulder late in the third period. He came back into the game and played well until he aggravated the injury on a drive that end with him finishing with his left hand and landing on his left shoulder after bringing the Wizards within two points. Even with his damaged arm, Miller made another brilliant play when he zipped a pass to Andray Blatche for a dunk that tied the game at 73.

"I thought he played pretty good with one arm," Saunders joked afterward.

Until Miller and Jamison return, the Wizards face a more daunting task because Arenas and Butler don't appear to be on the same page offensively. Butler had 13 points and 10 rebounds but it was really a subpar performance that frustrated him and Arenas.

After the game, Butler said, "I know my role, it's just obviously you just adapting to the new situation and having guys back and just got to stay aggressive and always be aware, stay aggressive, don't get caught watching the show."

Arenas, who shot 9 of 27, said, "I mean, he has to shoot the open shot. You know, Caron's a rhythm player, so in the old system he had enough time to get into his 'mojo' and shoot those shots. In this system, you have to get a lot of catch and shoots, so the first initial shot he has he doesn't usually take it and then everything just closes up from there. He's just got to get used to catching and shooting."