After last Friday's win in Orlando and upcoming games this week against the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons, Saturday night's game at the Verizon Center against the banged up Boston Celtics had all the characteristics of a trap game. The Celtics were without Paul Pierce, Wally Szczerbiak and Tony Allen, among others, and losers of seven of their last eight games. Should be easy pickings, right? Well, almost. The Wiz built up a big lead in the first half, lost it, fought back to tie the game late and survived a missed attempt at a game winner by Gilbert Arenas (gasp) to pull out a 115-110 overtime win.

Washington cruised to a 13 point lead in the first quarter, running their offense with little opposition, getting uncontested shots and converting them with ease. They shot over 70% in the quarter and scored 39 points. Other than a brief scare caused by a Antawn Jamison's hyper-extended knee -- he was fine -- the Wizards pushed the lead to 20 behind 11 points from Arenas and 14 from Jamison. Boston trimmed the lead to 13 before the half, but the rout seemed to be on.

The third quarter was a different story, however, as Boston patiently worked the ball down low to third-year man Al Jefferson and rode the hot hand of former Villanova star Allan Ray. Jefferson shot 6-9 for 15 points and Ray was perfect on all three of his three-point attempts in the quarter. The Wiz did their part to help Boston's comeback bid with their sloppy play and a multitude of missed jumpers. Boston ended the period trailing by just one point.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson. More after the jump and in the game photo gallery.

The Celtics built up a six point lead in the fourth before the Wiz finally settled down, started attacking the rim and stopped settling for jumpers. After Brendan Haywood forced Jefferson into a bad shot with 20 seconds left in regulation, Arenas got the ball and the sellout crowd of 20,173 stood in unison waiting for what would happen next. The Celtics pushed Arenas to the right side of the court and rushed a second defender at him with six seconds left, causing Arenas' game winning attempt to clank off the back of the rim.

Jamison hit a three 11 seconds into OT and Haywood converted two free throws to give the Wiz a lead they would not lose. Arenas made up for his off night (10-26 from the field) in OT, scoring six points to keep a scrappy Boston team at bay as Washington clinched their 10th consecutive win at the Phone Booth. Ryan Gomes scored a career high 31 for the Celtics, followed by Jefferson's 23 and Ray's 20. Caron Butler and Jamison both scored 23 to lead the Wizards. Etan Thomas ended the night with five blocked shots and Antonio Daniels scored 12 points, most of them late, to provide a much needed spark from the bench.

Don't look now, but your Washington Wizards officially have the best record in the Eastern Conference. They share a 24-16 record with the Cleveland Cavaliers but Washington gets the nod because of their superior conference record. If this holds up through early February, Eddie Jordan will be coaching the Eastern Conference All-Stars in Las Vegas and it's a pretty sure bet Caron Butler would be on that team.