Gilbert Arenas left the court at the Verizon Center yesterday as fans serenaded him with chants of “MVP! MVP!” after hitting yet another game winner at the buzzer. The Utah Jazz were Agent Zero’s latest victim, falling 114-111 in an incredible Martin Luther King Day matinée. Arenas, who tied a Verizon Center record with 51 points, traded three pointers with Utah’s Memet Okur down the stretch, but got the ball last and made Utah pay. Arenas took his time on the last possession, waiting until the clock was under three seconds to make his move. Arenas began to drive to the hoop, but pulled up for a jumper just above the three point line that hit nothing but the bottom of the net as time expired. So much for that shoulder injury. And this on the heels of his game winner 11 days ago against Milwaukee.

“That was a quality shot. I hibachied all through the game and that was a quality shot.” I do believe Gilbert just created a new verb! His final numbers for the day: 14-29 from the field, 7 of 12 from three point land, 16-17 from the line and five assists. He’s topped 40 points seven times this season and 26 times in his career. “In that situation, it’s a win-win,” Arenas said of the last possession. “If you make the shot, you win. If you miss the shot, you’re going to overtime. There’s no point in shying away from something like that. I don’t care about the pressure.”

The Wiz were down by as much as 16 in the first half and cut the Jazz lead to eight as halftime approached before Okur hit a jumper as time expired in the second period to push the Utah lead back to double digits. Head coach Eddie Jordan must have fired up the troops at halftime, because the Wizards were very aggressive when they took the court in the third. Arenas and Caron Butler combined for 26 of the Wizards 34 points in the period, good enough for a four point Washington lead going into the fourth. From there, the drama continued to build.

Photo by Kyle Gustafson. More photos from the game here.