Who says the Washington Wizards didn’t improve over the offseason? Last night DCist made our first trip down to the Verizon Center this season and noticed plenty of changes; fancy new press credentials (now with marketing slogans!), shiny, new flat screen monitors in press row in section 104, that snazzy $50 million scoreboard that puts a whole new spin on the Kiss-Cam and a new red carpet themed video set to Kanye West’s “Bigger,…

The Washington Wizards did what they had to do last, beating the Indiana Pacers on the road 98-95. The win cemented the 7th seed in the East for the Wiz, setting up a rematch of last year’s exciting series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs clinched the 2nd seed in the East by virtue of their win over Milwaukee and Chicago’s loss in New Jersey. Here’s how the series will shakedown, schedule-wise: Game 1…

The Washington Wizards appear to have turned the corner. Last night’s 84-79 win over the Indiana Pacers gives the Wiz wins in eight of their last 11 games and puts them one game under .500 for the season. The Pacers, who have now lost six in a row, played their first game with recent acquisition Peja Stojakovic, acquired last week for the ever-disgruntled Ron Artest. Peja scored 17, but was mostly ineffective last night, shooting…

>> Wins on Friday against the free falling Cleveland Cavaliers and on Sunday against the Charlotte Bobcats coupled with an Indiana Pacers loss at Miami have moved the Wizards into 5th place in the Eastern Conference playoff race with just two games to go. The Wizards overall record now stands at 45-35 and the team has won four in a row since their five game losing streak. With the Pacers two games back with only…

Simply put, today is a good day to be a sports fan in Washington. Not only do we have the Nats home opener (more on that later) but last night the Wizards clinched their first playoff appearance since 1997 with a 93-82 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls. At long last the franchise has erased the failures of players like Mitch Richmond, Jerry Stackhouse and Michael Jordan, each of whom failed to lead the…

Yesterday the NBA announced the reserve rosters for the 2005 NBA All Star Game in Denver, Co. and to no one’s surprise, a pair of Wizards heard there names called out. Take a bow Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas, you deserve it. Ballots had already been cast and counted before Arenas tied his career high with 43 points against the slumping Indiana Pacers on Monday night. Not wanting to be left out, Jamison chipped in…