With all the attention Gilbert Arenas has garnered over the last month of the NBA season, it’s easy to forget about his very capable teammates. Luckily for the Wiz, they were ready to pick up the slack last night when Gilbert had an “off” game. A look at the stat sheet might tell you the Bulls defense held Agent Zero to just 16 shots, but it wouldn’t show Gilbert’s determination to get his teammates…

We all know what happened in the last round of the playoffs when the Washington Wizards recovered from a distastrous pair of opening games before righting the ship and vanquishing the Chicago Bulls, but DCist is going to go out on a limb and say the outlook isn’t quite so rosey this time around. After all, we don’t expect Dwayne Wade to pull a Ben Gordon and disappear for games at a time. In fact,…

Any NBA die-hard will tell you the NBA playoffs are all about matchups. When teams are facing each other up to seven times over a three week period, they become very familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And when teams as evenly matched as the Bulls and Wizards square off, it’s usually the play of the bench that decides the outcome. To wit: Game 1: Ben Gordon scores 12 of his 30 points in…

>> It took them three tries, but the Mighty Wiz finally earned their first playoff win in 17 long years on Sunday with a 117-99 win against the visiting Chicago Bulls. For those counting at home, Gilbert Arenas was all of 6 years old at the time of the then-Bullets last playoff win. The Big Three were The Big Three + One on Saturday, as reserve Etan Thomas shot 8 for 9 from the…

General thinking in the NBA Playoffs is that a series really doesn’t start until a team wins on the road. Well, after losing their second game in a row in Chicago to the Bulls (and continuing their recent less than stellar playoff history), the Wizards better hope this series “doesn’t start” until they return to Chicago next week. Home games on Saturday and Monday might be the last hurrah for this team if they…

>> The Washington Wizards played strong for three quarters yesterday but were outscored 26-12 in the fourth quarter as the Chicago Bulls pulled away late for a 103-94 victory. The Bulls were led by rookie Ben Gordon’s 30 points (12 in the fourth quarter) and fellow rook Andres Nocioni (25 points and 18 boards), coupled with their trademark tough team defense and opportunistic offensive rebounding. The Wizards “Big Three” didn’t fare as well. Gilbert…