Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas just announced in the locker room that he is shelving himself for the rest of the season -- however short or long it may be -- because the pinched nerve in the back of his surgically repaired left knee is too painful for him to produce effectively on the court. Eddie Jordan had said after this morning's shootaround that he wasn't sure if Arenas would be starting because he was experiencing more "achiness" than usual, but he expected him to play.

But in the locker room tonight during pre-game availability, I noticed the Wizards wearing their blue uniforms instead of the gold and black they wore the first two games up here. I said, "So you scrapped the gold and black, huh?" Gil answered, "They did." He then took off his blue game shorts and gave his warmup suit to the equipment manager and pulled on some black shorts.

I asked him if he was playing and he said, "Nope. I'm not," and let out a long sigh. He went on to explain that not only was he out for the game, but for the series if the Wizards even made it to Game 6 on Friday.

Here's some of what he had to say:

"I tried my best to go out and play and be a part of it. But my leg wasn't recovering fast enough after each game. Even with missed practices and just playing in games it still wasn't recovering. This nerve pinch just came out of the blue. The swelling and achiness I can take that. But each step feels like you're hitting my funny bone. Eventually that is wearing and tearing. So, it's back to phase 3: Motion work. Light, light motion work."

On if he wished he never came back:
"No, no, no, no. You never second-guess your decision. There are a lot of players that never even played in the postseason, and the team did a great job of getting us here and giving me the opportunity to go out there and play. So I went out there and did everything I could. I came off the bench. I did everything I could to keep this team intact and not interrupt. But at the end of the day when you're playing five on 4-1/2, you're interrupting and you need to have five healthy people to win a series."

On the frustration of not being able to take his team past the first round of the playoffs:

"That's the way the cookies crumble. The first time we lost to them I was like, 'OK, the basketball gods are with them. The chosen one is the chosen one for a reason.' Then last year, two guys are out and they go to the Eastern Conference Final. This year, with my knee and Caron's hip it's like, another year. But as long as you go out and play hard, you give your 100 percent, that's all you can ask for."

Arenas said he will begin rehabbing tomorrow, but that he won't do any running or impact work for two months. He said the pinched nerve doesn't require surgery, just that he has been told that it's irritated from all the swelling and constant strenuous rehabbing. "No, no, no. I'm not getting cut again. Nerves aren't like that. Not this one," he added.

So, it's back to the way it was for much of the season.

Antonio Daniels and Roger Mason will see more increased minutes, which could help the Wizards find their rhythm sooner. If you'll remember, they'd get their rhythm, Gil would come in and the offense would stop clicking.

"We've prepared ourselves through the course of 69 games and I think we've performed very well without Gilbert. We're a different team with Gil. We're very explosive. He adds another dimension to us. But we're ready to go without him if he can't -- if he has to shut it down."

Eddie said he didn't find out that Gil had shelved himself until he was told that the guard was breaking the news to reporters in the locker room.

"Is anyone shocked?" Eddie added.

-- Mike Jones

Yesterday LeBron James' take on DeShawn Stevenson's flagrant foul on him was "I guess that's what they want to do this year: hurt LeBron James."

Today after practice, Brendan Haywood cracked everybody up with a response. Putting on a sorrowful expression and speaking in a high pitched, whining tone, Haywood said: "Ooooh, they're trying to hurt me!"

Going back to his natural voice he added:
"He wears 23, he wants to be Michael Jordan. I can respect that, he's a great player. But you saw what Mike when through. Mike got fouled way worse than this. No one's trying to hurt him. Everyone's trying to play basketball and trying to be tough. Play basketball and leave it alone. He's trying to hurt me! [whining tone again] C'mon.

"I don't remember anyone saying blatantly 'they're trying to hurt me' before. But the game has changed a lot. You definitely couldn't say that back in the day. The nature of the game has changed from the Bad Boys with the Pistons, the Knicks. You said that and you would've been seen as plain out soft. I never heard Magic say it, or Mike, or Larry."

Oh, and Jay-Z's DeShawn Stevenson diss has made it to YouTube. It's called "Blow the whistle." There's no mention of Stevenson's name, but it's rather clear what he's responding to.

Yeah, right, LeBron. There is no DeShawn-LeBron rivalry? Maybe not on the court as one-on-one matchup. But there's definitely something personal there.

-- Mike Jones

Gilbert Arenas went through a full practice today and Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said if all goes according to plan, Arenas will make his second straight start.

"He looked pretty good out there today," Jordan said. "I was trying to slow him down so he could save his legs for tomorrow, but he looked good and it looks like he's ready to go for tomorrow."

It was a sign of improvement two days after Arenas on Thursday made his first start since Nov. 16, but limped off the court in the second quarter, suffering from a bone bruise and pinched nerve in his surgically-repaired left knee.

Arenas said yesterday that he was optimistic that he could play in Game 4 and hoped that resting would do the trick. He sat out of practice yesterday, but had a spring in his step in the latter portions of today's practice, and was back to one of his favorite pastimes: knocking down 3-pointers over rookie Nick Young.

-- Mike Jones

Gilbert Arenas-Sixth Man is dead. Gilbert Arenas-Starter is back, at least for now.

Roughly 30 minutes ago, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan announced his starting lineup as Antonio Daniels, DeShawn Stevenson, Brendan Haywood, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison and saying that for now Arenas was still a backup. He added that if the decision changed, it would be "an 11th-hour decision."

I guess the 11th hour is here.

The Wizards and Cavs just released the starting lineup for tonight's game and for the first time since Nov. 16, Agent Zero was on the list. After 69 games on the shelf and seven games as a backup, Arenas will start.

The move must be a stab at helping the Wizards get off to a better start, and possibly hopefully to create a better rhythm than what Washington has played with in the last two games.

Arenas has averaged 15.5 points in the first two playoff games. In his five regular season games before the postseason began, Arenas averaged 14.6 points in 21.6 minutes.

Whether or not the move to start Arenas means that he is no longer being limited in the minutes department remains to be seen. Jordan said yesterday that Gilbert was "far" from being healthy. But maybe a less-than-100 percent Gilbert is better than Antonio Daniels, who is seriously limited playing with a torn ligament in his left wrist.

-- Mike Jones

After brushing off complaints from the Cavaliers of of vicious fouls from his team, Eddie Jordan has always explained that his players were not playing dirty, but that his players were instructed to defend the paint with good, hard fouls instead of giving up easy layups. Yesterday, perhaps tired of the continued questions, Jordan finally came out and said the Wizards and Cavaliers aren't playing each other any differently.

The coach at practice today said the fouls his players are handing out are no more violent than those the Cavaliers are laying on the Wizards. The Cavs are just doing a better job acting.

"Considering the fouls they gave on us, you at least have to go for the ball," Jordan said. "You can throw your body at anyone you want. It just seems like, watching the fouls they gave on us, pretend you're going to block the ball, and throw your body at the layup guy. That's a good technique."

Brendan Haywood, who was ejected from Game 2 for a Flagrant Foul Type 2 for knocking LeBron James out of bounds in midair, again explained that he had no ill intentions, but that he will continue to play the same way tomorrow.

"I was going to foul him so he wouldn't get a monster dunk in the halfcourt and going to foul him on Thursday to make sure he doesn't get a monster dunk in the foul court. I'm not trying to push him out of bounds and foul him hard. It was one of those things it was bang-bang, it happened at the last minute, I didn't see him but I don't want anybody to think I was trying to hurt one of the game's best players."

Later, Haywood more than implied that Cleveland coach Mike Brown needs to stop fighting so hard for James to get more and more calls.

"C'Mon Mike!" he said, heading to the locker room, pretending to have a conversation with Brown. "His name is LeBron James, not LeBron BROWN. He's not your son!"

Antawn Jamison said the talk of the Wizards being dirty is extremely exaggerated.

"We haven't been doing -- everybody has been saying we're playing him differently than what we have been doing," Jamison said. "Things got blown out of proportion with the talk that happened the course of the season, but the man is coming down the lane! Do not let him score! I mean, that's basketball. When I come down the lane, when Gilbert comes down the lane, they put you on your ass! It's no difference during the course of 82. It's just one of those things. We need to concentrate on keeping them in front of us, not giving up too many drives. We just need to prevent him from getting into a rhythm."

-- Mike Jones

CLEVELAND -- Aside from a blue supportive band, Gilbert Arenas and his sprained right wrist appeared to be fine and dandy at this morning's shoot-around.

He swished home his first five warm-up shots and concluded the day by accepting Nick Young and Andray Blatche's bets that he couldn't make a series of half-court shots. He shot five left-handed and missed all five, narrowly on the last two. And then he took about 10 from just beyond the half-court stripe with his right hand.

Eddie Jordan said that Arenas was a little sore before practice this morning but that he was ready to go for Game 2 tonight at 7 p.m.

The Wizards practiced today at Quicken Loans Arena and the mood was light and upbeat despite losing their seventh straight playoff game to the Cavaliers a day before. The common theme was: We had our chances. We were stopped by ourselves, not the Cavs.

Said coach Eddie Jordan: "I liked the way we conducted ourselves, I like the way we managed the game for the most part. I liked the way Gil came off and was what we hoped he would be – the difference maker. And what it comes down to, LeBron made some terrific plays, driving to the basket. Things we had cut off in the first half, we started letting him half in the fourth quarter. So we just need to shore up some things and make some minor adjustments. Because hey, when you're on their floor, you get them to shoot 39 percent, you're even in the rebounding department, you managed the game, you were right there, then you don't have to make major adjustments. You just have to play better."

Antawn Jamison: "I got a lot of open shots. ... I'll say out of the 24 that I took, maybe four or five of them were tough, tough shots that I should've thought about. But a couple of the 3s, maybe I could've drove or created shots for other people. But I'm not beating myself upside the head. ... You don't want to say, 'It's Game 1 and they did what they were supposed to do.' But It was a game we had a chance to win and we came up short."

Caron Butler: "People need to realize, the series doesn't start until you lose at home. And right now, we haven't lost at home and the pressure's still on the Cavs to protect their home court. We need to come out and get a win tomorrow night. I thought we did an excellent job and we felt like because we didn't make shots in that stretch, that's what cost us the game. We make shots and we'll be fine. Just some minor adjustments."

Gilbert Arenas didn't practice because he sprained his right wrist in a collision with LeBron late in yesterday's game. He wasn't complaining about it after the game but noticed soreness this morning. He did some light shooting but watched the team drills with the wrist wrapped in ice. No worries, Wizards fans. Your new star sixth man won't let a sore wrist keep him out of tomorrow night's game.

–- Mike Jones

At last, after all the talking, all the buildup and the hype, it's finally here.

Wizards-Cavs, playing in the first game of the NBA postseason.

"We're excited," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan just said a little bit ago outside his team's locker room. "We're glad we're the first game. We feel like we're a marquee team, the marquee game and we're ready."

The game hasn't even started but the Cleveland fans have already started raining down insults upon DeShawn Stevenson for calling their King overrated. Word in the Wizards locker room before the game was that a few of Stevenson's players were at the mall yesterday and people started coming up to them telling them to tell Stevenson to come out and public in Cleveland and make the same claims.

At 12:20, the Wizards are on the court for pregame warmups and every time Stevenson is shown on the Jumbotron, the fans boo lustily and call him every name in the book.

Just up on the big screen was a picture of Gilbert Arenas and his quote from his blog that said the Wizards want the Cavaliers and don't think Cleveland can beat them three straight years. That too incited a mini riot. Arenas looked up and grinned.

The Wizards' starters were just introduced and Stevenson again received a thunderous boo. Only a smattering of boos were handed out for the rest of the team.

Then came the Cleveland introductions, and judging by the music and the deafening cheers, I can't tell if I'm sitting in the stands at the Coliseum in Rome about to witness Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridias about to go into battle, or if I am actually at a basketball game.

Let's get it on ...

- Mike Jones

The NBA announced its first-round playoff schedule early this morning, and the Wizards will open their series at Cleveland on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.

After Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland, the series will return to Verizon Center next Thursday for a prime time game on TNT.

The Wizards also are planning a "White-Out" promotion for the two games in the District, encouraging fans to wear white and wave the free white towells that will be handed out at the games.

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Washington Wizards

Game 1: Sat April 19 Washington at Cleveland 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 2: Mon April 21 Washington at Cleveland 7 p.m. (TNT)

Game 3: Thu April 24 Cleveland at Washington 8 p.m. (TNT)

Game 4: Sun April 27 Cleveland at Washington 1 p.m. (ABC)

Game 5 * Wed April 30 Washington at Cleveland TBD

Game 6 * Fri May 2 Cleveland at Washington TBD

Game 7 * Sun May 4 Washington at Cleveland TBD

* if necessary

"Game 82" Eddie Jordan wrote that atop the marker board in the visitors locker room and the first thing listed below it was "Discipline."

The Wizards will go without Antawn Jamison (getting a well-deserved night off), Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler (both precautionary moves). The starting lineup will be DeShawn Stevenson (making consecutive start No. 250), Antonio Daniels, Dominic McGuire (making his first start), Brendan Haywood and Darius Songaila.

McGuire is coming off of a career game: Nine points and 10 rebounds and Jordan figured starting Dom would be a good way to both reward him for what he brings to the team and further his development.

"He gives us that dimension we need. That small forward, defensive mindset, the shotblocking he gives you," Jordan said. "The offensive rebounding he gives you. Obviously he's young, he makes a lot of mistakes as a young player. But we hope to nurture him and give him a little bit of a taste of starting and see how he can carry those minutes."

Meanwhile, the Wizards were in very good spirits in the locker room before the game.

Stevenson was asked about this weekends upcoming showdown with LeBron James and he gave a tempered response of, "He knows I'm serious. He kinda sounds like he doesn't want to talk to much, so maybe he's scared." He was also asked about Charles Barkley's take on the Wizards wishing for a showdown with the Cavaliers. Sir Charles said, "I think the Washington Wizards have got to be the dumbest team in the history of civilization," for trashtalking the team with the No. 2 player in the league. Stevenson said "Are we really going to listen to a guy who said that Yao Ming wasn't going to be in All-Star in this league? Really? Really?"

Brendan Haywood warned his teammate that he couldn't go after a Hall of Famer if he himself wasn't a Hall of Famer, but Gilbert Arenas said it was OK as long as he was going after his thought process and not his basketball skills. Agent Zero asked exactly what Barkley had said and Haywood relayed the comment. Gil, strutting back to his locker, said "That's cute. That's cute. They might have the No. 2 player, but they don't have the No. 1 end of game, end of period, end of half player. Uh-hu, know what I'm sayin'?"

Haywood said "Oh, we've got Kobe in here?" and Arenas replied, "He does not have more end of game, end of quarter shots than me, but I like your thought process."

All joking aside the Wizards who are playing tonight remain focused on the Magic and aren't looking ahead to the Cavs.

Haywood: "We'll be happy to focus on the playoffs when that time comes around, but at the end of the day, we're paid to play 82 games and I think everyone's taking this game seriously. So we're not getting it out of the way. Even though a lot of our players aren't playing, we still want to win this game and see our young guys develop and grow through this game."

Said Roger Mason Jr.: "This game doesn't mean nothing. Any time you play this game, you play for love, obviously, and we're trying to get ready for the playoffs. So guys that do play, the starters will play and maybe the guys on the bench will get more time, but that will be good because we need to fine-tune before the playoffs."

-- Mike Jones

Eddie Jordan gave the Wizards the day off from practice today, and the rest day is much needed for DeShawn Stevenson, who started Monday despite still dealing with soreness from that bruised tail bone and then left the game at the start of the third quarter with lower back pain. X-rays were done and results came back negative. The Invincible D-Steve will probably be right back out there tomorrow for his 250th consecutive start.

It was a bit disappointing to head back to the locker room after the game and find that Stevenson was gone already. Before the game he was asked about his thoughts on his wish of facing LeBron and the Cavs in the first round of the playoffs. Wearing a smile and a fluffy black bathrobe with THE LOCKSMITH embroidered on the back (one of his nicknames because he prides himself on being a lockdown defender), Stevenson said "After the game. Wait til after this game. I'll have some material for you guys then." But he had headed out after leaving the game with stiffness and soreness in that back, which is understandable. He'll surely unload on us tomorrow night after the Orlando game, which was where he announced on March 19 that Soulja Boy would be sitting courtside wearing a Stevenson jersey when LeBron and the Cavs come to the Verizon Center in the playoffs.

Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas also benefited from the day off. Butler missed last night's game with continued soreness in that bruised right knee and Agent Zero sat out as a precautionary move, no setback or anything. It wasn't like it was worth risking both of those guys on the Pacers.

We'll find out Thursday what day the Wizards will open the playoffs in Cleveland. I'm thinking Lebron vs. Gilbert has a great deal of appeal and that ABC will show it as the early game on Sunday. But, it could kick off the whole thing on Saturday. There are quite a few of compelling story lines this year in the playoffs: Boston, Kobe, defending champ Spurs ...

But C'mon, what's better than a King, an Agent and a Locksmith? This series is going to be great entertainment. You have LeBron and his new-look cast trying to get back to the finals (not happening). There's the whole third straight year thing going -- can the Wiz get over the hump this year? (Think they have a good shot). There's Gilbert reloaded, and of course Jay-Z (LeBron) vs. Soulja Boy (Stevenson). I can't wait to see Stevenson bust a 3-pointer and break out into the Soulja Boy dance!

-- Mike Jones

Caron Butler is still experiencing soreness in his bruised right knee and will miss tonight's game against the Indiana Pacers. Gilbert Arenas will miss the game as a precaution after he played his first back-to-back set this past weekend since returning from knee surgery.

Darius Songaila will make a second straight start in place of Butler, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. The coach added that hopefully the additional rest will allow Butler to heal to the point where he can play without experiencing pain Wednesday night in the season finale against Orlando.

Arenas on Saturday had his best game since returning to action, notching 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes of play -- the most action he has logged since ending his 66-game layoff almost two weeks ago. Jordan has praised the energy he has given the team off the bench and the matchup problem he creates for opponents, whose backups generally struggle to matchup well with the three-time All-Star.

Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said he has been using former All-Star Jermaine O'Neal, who has been limited to 40 games with a knee injury, in a similar fashion, but when asked for his take on the similarities, Jordan said it's the same thing, only different.

"It's kind of the same thing," the coach said thoughtfully. "I like the fact that Gil is faster and more explosive and can handle the ball more, which makes it a little more dynamic on our part. Certainly, I think Jermaine has been back for longer than Gil has so he might have his legs under him a little more than Gil does, but, yeah, it's the same type of thing. But I'd like to have that speed and quickness, rather than that slow, plodding post-up guy -- but he's a great player."

-- Mike Jones

DeShawn Stevenson will get his wish of facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

With the Toronto Raptors losing today to the Detroit Pistons, the Wizards are ensured that they will finish no worse than fifth place in the East. Boston, Detroit and Orlando are locked in at first, second and third place, respectively, so that leaves Cleveland and Washington to vie for fourth place. The Wizards are 1.5 games back of Cleveland, which plays Miami today and then has a game against the 76ers and the Pistons left on the schedule. The Wizards play host to the Pacers tomorrow night, then travel to Orlando on Wednesday. Can the Wizards overtake the Cavaliers for fourth? Or will they remain in fifth place?

Either way, whenever the Wizards take on the Cavaliers at Verizon Center, whether it's to start the playoffs or in Game 3, be sure to check out the court-side seats!

Remember, D-Steve said he's going to have Soulja Boy sitting on the front row, "wearing a DeShawn Stevenson jersey" after LeBron James said him commenting on Stevenson calling him overrated to Jay-Z stooping to comment on trash talk from Soulja Boy.

And of course there's the whole rivalry with Cleveland, which has bounced the Wizards out of the playoffs the last two seasons. Will this be the year the Wizards get over the hump? We shall see. ...

-- Mike Jones

Fresh off a 28-point loss to the Detroit Pistons last night, the Wizards find themselves in a crucial situation tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Wizards enter the game just a game ahead of the Sixers in the Eastern Conference playoff race. With a win tonight, the Wizards would improve to 41-38 and would increase their lead to two games ahead of the Sixers with two games to go. Because Washington has a superior division record than Philly, the Wizards would be ensured that they would finish no worse than sixth place. But if the Wizards were to lose, they fall to sixth place because Philly would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. But the Wizards are 1-2 against the Sixers this season. And it was a 101-96 victory over Washington on Feb. 5 that turned Philly's season around. The Sixers have gone from lottery-bound squad to a playoff contender, going 21-9 since that victory over Washington.

Making matters difficult for the Wizards is the fact that they will have to go tonight without Caron Butler. Butler suffered a bruised knee in the second quarter last night's loss, but returned. He was in pretty bad shape, however, and it was the same knee he bruised earlier this week in practice. About 45 minutes ago, Butler tested out his knee on the practice court, but it's too bad for him to give it ago.

Shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson suffered a bruised tailbone in last night's loss, but he's still playing tonight although he said it's "as sore as ever." In the locker room before the game he pulled on a pair of spandex shorts that had thigh and hip and tailbone pads inserted in them. It looked like something a football player would wear. Then he pulled his game shorts over them. There's basically nothing that can keep D-Steve out of a game. He played half a season with a torn meniscus in his knee three seasons ago.

-- Mike Jones

Agent Zero updated his blog today and explained why he hasn't spoken to reporters in more than a week. Check it out here.

It starts like this:

"When people are asking me, “How does it feel to be back?” I don’t consider myself back. It’s jinxy. That’s why I don’t talk to the media right now. They’re going to ask the same questions, “How does the knee feel? . . . How does it feel coming off the bench? . . . Are you opting out?

"You know what, there’s only so many times you can answer those same questions. I mean, can’t they just use the same quotes I said last week? There’s only so many times you can answer the same questions so I just said, “Forget it.”

So Gil says he's done talking to the media until next season. C'mon, Gil. It's not like you don't change your tune every single time you open your mouth. It's understandable that we ask for updates, isn't it? I know it gets tiring, but hey, comes with the territory. I find it interesting Agent Zero decided to stop talking right after he lied about his medical clearance.

In the blog, Gilbert also replies to this paper's very own Tom Knott, who in a recent column called Arenas out for poor defense. Maybe they can have a face-off or write-off. I hear Knott was a pretty good baller back in the day, maybe they can settle their differences with a game of horse.

-- Mike Jones

Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said forwards Caron Butler and Darius Songaila are both fine for tonight's game against Boston after a collision in practice yesterday that left Butler with bruised knee and Songaila with a twisted ankle.

"Everybody's ready to go for tonight except for Etan [Thomas, heart surgery]," Jordan said. "We're very happy that our guys practiced two days together and we're ready to go. Gil's still coming off the bench. ... [Caron] went through shootaround, I didn't see him grimace or anything, Darius is good, so we're ready to go."

Jordan said Arenas will continue to be limited to 20 to 24 minutes as he continues to work his way back into top form, and he plans to continue to use him in multiple lineups, which he views as another challenge to throw at opponents.

"The fact that Gil is coming off the bench, playing with another group of rotation guys, I like that. I think it's very exciting and it adds another dimension to the opponent's thinking: Who comes off the opponent's bench to match up with Gilbert Arenas? I like that."

The PGA Tour -- Boston's Pierce, Garnett and Allen -- will be on display but in limited form. All three will play tonight, but will be limited to roughly 20 minutes.

The Wizards got the best of the Celtics the last two times they faced "The Big Three" and have a chance to become the first team this season to beat Boston three times. But the Wizards aren't focusing on that factoid.

"It's not the fact that it'd be nice to be the first to beat them three times, it'd be nice to beat them three times, period, just so there's no 2-2 tie," Daniels said. "It's easier said than done. Obviously it's a very good basketball team. Recordwise the best team in the league. But we've been playing well as of late and hopefully we can carry that over into tonight."

-- Mike Jones

CHICAGO -- Both forward Antawn Jamison and point guard Gilbert Arenas are out for tonight's game against Chicago. Jamison is still healing from the sprained right shoulder that he suffered in Wednesday night's home loss to the Bucks. The decision to hold Arenas out was a precautionary move by the training staff and the player, Wizards associate head coach Mike O'Koren said during tonight's pregame press conference.

"You know, coming off a back-to-back, the training staff looked at him and they're going to be real, real delicate with Gilbert," said O'Koren, who filled in for coach Eddie Jordan, who is still suffering from flu-like symptoms. "Coming back from injury, he looked fine. He's in great shape, great condition for being out that long. This is all precautionary and he'll be at practice Monday and Tuesday and get ready for Wednesday."

Jordan was hoping to coach tonight, but O'Koren is prepared to have to relieve him if needs be.

"That's up to him. You're always prepared. It's a heck of a seat to move over, but he gutted it out last night. He felt great on the plane then it seemed to come back tonight.

Darius Songaila will make a second straight start in place of Jamison at power forward.

-- Mike Jones

For the first time this season, the Wizards -- who play host to the Miami Heat tonight -- will take the floor without Antawn Jamison, who suffered a sprained right shoulder in the final minute of Wednesday's loss to the Bucks.

Jamison, who is listed as day-to-day, injured the shoulder when he dove to save a loose ball and ended up crashing into some courtside seats. He received an MRI and X-ray and results game back negative. Jamison wore his arm in a sling later that night and yesterday.

"It's feeling better," said Jamison, who is averaging 21.5points and 10.25 rebounds. "A lot better than the night it happened. If it continues to go the way it's going, right now it's day-to-day, then I don't see myself missing too much action. Hopefully tomorrow ... but if it's not a go tomorrow, definitely Wednesday."

As a precaution, the Wizards' medical staff has prohibited Jamison from raising his arm.

"They won't let me," Jamison said. "I was able to do some stuff in the pool earlier today, but they've kinda restricted me from getting into that motion, and I like to shoot the ball a little bit."

Jamison was asked if the fans were helpful and he added another light moment.

"Shaq goes into the fans and I see people jumping to help him. My skinny butt goes into the crowd and I see them parting the sea," Jamison said. "It was funny, I was trying to get up and I guess [the fan] was watching the play and he looked down and said, 'Oh, you're still there?' Oh, well. It is what it is, I'm just glad it was nothing more serious."

Wizards coach Eddie Jordan still is suffering from a severe sinus infection, battling a headache and flu-like symptoms, said associate head coach Mike O'Koren, who again gave the pre-game press conference for Jordan, who still hopes to coach tonight.

O'Koren said Darius Songaila will start for Jamison, marking the 11th different starting lineup for Washington this season.

Gilbert Arenas will again come off the bench.

-- Mike Jones

Gilbert Arenas ducked the media for the second straight day, refusing to come out after practice and speak on the last 48 hours. He did practice with the team, although it was basically a shootaround. With so many guys banged up, it's hard to practice. So the team, under the supervision of associate head coach Mike O'Koren -- who filled in for Eddie Jordan, who is out with a sinus infection -- and assistant coach Randy Ayers, the Wizards did some work on defensive assignments and then shot around.

It's still unclear as to when or how Eddie found out Gilbert was playing last night. O'Koren said he didn't know until Gilbert ran out onto the court to join his team on the bench in uniform with 5:30 left in the first quarter.

I asked DeShawn Stevenson how easy or difficult it has been to focus with the whole "Is he gonna play, is he cleared?" talk, and if Gilbert's grand entrance took anything away from the team last night and this was his response:

"Nah, I think everybody expects that from him. When you have a guy that you expect things from, you just look over it. Some teams it probably would be a distraction, but we know Gil a lot and we just look over it. He can do whatever he do, but when he comes on the court, he's ready to play so I think that's why nobody really pays attention to it."

Stevenson was still hobbled by that right ankle sprain that forced him to miss the waining minutes of last night's loss to the Bucks. He said it still hurts pretty badly, but he hopes to play tomorrow against the Heat.

D-Steve probably will play. The man hasn't missed a start in 242 games and even played half a season with a torn meniscus his last year in Orlando before signing with Washington.

Antawn Jamison had his shoulder in a sling and was in street clothes. The team will evaluate his sprained right shoulder later today and right now his status for tomorrow is unknown.

And finally: I grabbed Etan Thomas on his way out and he said he had a CT scan done last week and he's still not fully recovered from that surgery to repair an leaky aortic valve this past October. As he's said before, the heart isn't the problem. That's fine. But his sternum is what's taking a while to heal. Eight weeks ago the sternum was only 50 percent healed. Now the bottom of the sternum is completely healed, but the top portion -- the manubrium -- remains only 50 percent healed.

Thomas said the CT scans aren't done close together because the condition of the bone doesn't change much, but he didn't want to totally rule this season out.

"I'm just out here supporting the team. I'm just happy to be around the guys," Thomas said. "It's just one of those things where I have to be patient, and you can't really do anything about it, the body's just got to have time to heal. I thought I was going to be back sooner, when I first came back, because I was feeling good. But they told me, 'It's not healed and you really don't want to take any big hits there until it gets healed. So, you've just got to listen to the doctors and be thankful for everything that has happened."

-- Mike Jones

Here I am at Verizon Center, now. The day after Gilbert Arenas surprised everyone -- including his coach -- and made his return from a 66-game layoff from that Nov. 21 surgery on his left knee.

Agent Zero rushed from Verizon Center last night before the locker room was even opened up to reporters for postgame interviews. Hopefully he talks today and addresses why he lied on Sunday saying that he hadn't been cleared when in fact he had received the green light from the team doctor the day before. Maybe he'll explain waiting until the last five minutes of the first quarter to leave the locker room and join his team in the arena. And maybe he'll explain why he didn't go to his coach before the game and tell him that he was planning on playing. And maybe he'll explain why he was in such a hurry to leave after the game after he had made such a grand, attention-begging entrance during the game.

Stay tuned ...

-- Mike Jones

It's on ... finally. With 5:30 left in the first quarter, Agent Zero finally came out of the locker room during a timeout with the Wizards up 16-12. At 5:19 he ran to the scorers table and checked in and with 4:49 left on the clock he scored on a reverse layup on an assist from Antawn Jamison.

There you have it. Gilbert Arenas is back

- Mike Jones

After all that, word is that Gilbert Arenas will play tonight, according to a team source. Agent Zero didn't run out with the team for pregame warmups, but he's in the locker room and dressed to play. Stay tuned .....

The circus just left town, didn't it? That's what I thought. But it sure doesn't seem like it. Something very closely resembling a circus is in full swing down here at Verizon Center.

Gilbert Arenas refused to speak to the press in pregame locker availability, and Wizards coach Eddie Jordan missed his pregame press conference with a sinus headache that was so bad that he was in his office with the lights off, trying to sleep it off. So associate head coach Mike O'Koren stood in for both tonight.

O'Koren said that Arenas has indeed been cleared to play, but when he plays is anyone's guess.

"Well, Gilbert's been cleared to play. Whether he plays tonight, or if he comes back is up to Gilbert," O'Koren said. "When he gets his mind right, we can't wait to get him back. But it's up to him right now."

O'Koren was asked if Gil's "mind was right" tonight, and the coach said he didn't know. He wasn't even expecting to have to give the pre-game talk until he received word from Jordan that he would need to sub.

Meanwhile, just before that Arenas -- who on Sunday, the day after he was cleared to play, told us that he hadn't heard anything in regards to when he would be cleared -- sauntered into the locker room and gave a salute to us reporters. When asked if he had a few minutes Arenas, who maintained the same "I got nothing" stance the next two days after Sunday's interview, said no and retreated to the training room.

Arenas was wearing the same workout gear as his teammates during pre-game, and he had his headphones on as he lay on the table getting stretched out and massaged. Then the door was closed.

A Wizards insider was chatting with me about how crazy it all is and said not to be surprised if he did play tonight. The locker room is always open until 6:15 p.m., but tonight the door was shut at 6:10 p.m. Could Agent Zero be in there getting ready to play, or trying to talk himself into playing? That's the question all of the reporters were asking each other and themselves.

It's anyone's guess. We're dealing with someone who loves the spotlight and comes off as rather conflicted. But, who knows? Maybe it's calculated. One thing's for sure. The Agent, and only The Agent, knows what's going on.

-- Mike Jones