One must beware the dreaded Andre Blatche karate chop. Just ask Joakim Noah. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Wizards 101, Bulls 95: In the wake of all the shuffling, the Washington Wizards were left with two players who had been with the team since 2007. One is Nick Young. The other is Andray Blatche. Despite five years with the team, Blatche hadn’t logged 40 minutes in a game all season — in fact, to find a night where you he took such a large role in a game, you have to go all the way back to February 1, 2008.

That is, until last night.

Blatche led the Wizards with 25 points and 11 rebounds in 41 minutes, and Washington won their third game in four since the mass exodus. Blatche had help: Al Thornton had 17, James Singleton had 12 boards, and Randy Foye, 9 assists. But it’s clear that Blatche has really embraced a role as the guy for the Wizards, who also eclipsed last year’s win total with their 20th last night. In the last four games, Blatche has shot 59.7% from the field, hit 22 of his 25 shots at the line, averaged 23 points and 8.6 rebounds a game. He’s bumped his season points and rebounds per game up by 25% and 10% in but five days.

Not too shabby for a guy who’s only started 71 games for Washington since 2005.