After a rough stretch that saw them lose five games in a row and six of seven overall, the Washington Wizards rebounded (no pun intended) last night with a 96-89 win over the road weary Portland Trailblazers. The Blazers, playing the last game of a grueling seven game road swing, obviously had that not so fresh feeling after a loss Tuesday night in Philadelphia and had trouble containing the Wizards All Star duo of Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. Arenas had 28 points and Jamison added 20 points and 15 rebounds, good for his sixth consecutive double double. We think it’s safe to say his shooting troubles from the pre-season are no longer bothering him. Also not to be overlooked were the contributions from Jarvis Hayes, making his third start and dropping 13 points, and the 12 points and nine rebounds Caron Butler added from the bench.

The much needed win gives the Wiz, now 7-7, a .500 record for the month of November. “We definitely wanted to come out and try to get back on track the way were were earlier in this month and get this kind of momentum going into next month,” Jamison told the AP. “It’s always positive when you can keep it at .500.”

The game also marked the first appearance Juan Dixon and Steve Blake in uniforms other than the blue and white. The former Terps each signed with Portland in the off-season after it became clear that there was no room in an already crowded Washington backcourt with the additions of Chucky Atkins and Antonio Daniels. Dixon entered the game near the end of the first quarter to rapturous applause, scoring 10 points on 4-8 shooting in 28 minutes. DCist fave Blake was held scorless but handed out one assist in limited fourth quarter action. Their new Wizards counterparts didn’t fare much better. Atkins and Daniels scored only four and two points respectively.

Up next for the Wiz are the resurgent Milwaukee Bucks at 7 p.m. on Friday at the MCI Center.

AP Photo by Evan Vucci