Wizards triumph over Trail Blazers

Wizards take their 2nd in a row beating the Trail Blazers 97-92 Monday night. Although Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely by the NBA, the season wasn't canceled when he pleaded guilty to a felony. The Washington Wizards have to continue to show up for games and play them, and they're actually doing OK.
Washington beat the Portland Trail Blazers, giving the team a two-game winning streak for only the fourth time this season. There was a blowout loss at Cleveland hours after Arenas' suspension was announced Jan. 6, but since then the Wizards are 3-4 and haven't dropped a game by more than 12 points. The team is two games into a six-game home stand, and they have a key component back in the lineup.

 Mike Miller, sidelined for all but two games since Nov. 21 because of a right calf injury, returned Monday and was a welcome spark plug with 13 points and 4s all over his stat line: 4 for 4 from the field, 4 for 4 from the line, four rebounds, four assists and four turnovers in 24 minutes.
 Randy Foye added 19 points and Caron Butler had 18 for the Wizards, who made 25 of 28 free throws and shot 52 percent from the field. Those are the kind of numbers Washington needs without Arenas, who was averaging 22.6 points and 7.2 assists.
 Jamison was 3 for 10 from the field at halftime, but he shot 7 of 11 in the second half in a game that was close throughout. Neither team led by more than 10, and there were six ties in the fourth quarter alone, but Portland didn't make a field goal in the last four minutes, its final bucket coming on Martell Webster's 3-pointer that put the Trail Blazers ahead 88-85.
Portland played again without leading scorer Brandon Roy, who sat out his second straight game with a sore right hamstring. Roy indicated before the game that he would play, but he wasn't able to convince Coach Nate McMillan or trainer Jay Jensen.
 Andre Miller scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half before fouling out with 19 seconds to play.
 Marcus Aldridge also scored 22 points and had a season-high 15 rebounds, and Webster added 18 points for the Trail Blazers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped as they opened a four-game road trip with a game that started at 10 a.m. West Coast time.

The Wizards led 90-88 late when both teams went scoreless for nearly 1 1/2 minutes. Butler finally hit a 20-foot jumper with 1:09 to play to put the Wizards ahead by four. Bayless got to the line again and made one of two - ending a 13-for-13 run from the line for the Trail Blazers. Foye's two free throws at the other end put Washington ahead by five with 19 seconds remaining, enough of a cushion to pull out the win.