Arenas Hurt in Wizards' Loss to Bobcats

It started as a bad night for Gilbert Arenas, and ended as a miserable one for the Washington Wizards. <br/><br/>Arenas didn't start for the first time this season because he was late for the team's

Thursday, April 5th 2007, 8:12 am

By: News On 6

It started as a bad night for Gilbert Arenas, and ended as a miserable one for the Washington Wizards.

Arenas didn't start for the first time this season because he was late for the team's shootaround. He was in the game for less than two minutes when he sprained his left knee, rendering nearly everything else irrelevant in the Charlotte Bobcats' 108-100 victory over the Wizards on Wednesday night.

The three-time All-Star will have an MRI on Thursday to determine the full extent of the damage, but the recovery time from such injuries is usually measured in weeks, not days, and the Wizards have only eight games left in the regular season.

``I'm hoping that it wasn't as bad as mine,'' said forward Antawn Jamison, who missed 12 games earlier this season with the same injury.

The Wizards have lost both of their All-Stars in a four-day span _ and back-to-back games to the mediocre Bobcats. Forward Caron Butler broke a bone his hand on Sunday _ the Wizards are 2-9 this season when he doesn't play _ and he isn't expected to return unless Washington advances deep into the playoffs.

``There are a lot of teams in this league who have had superstars injured, and they found a way to get it done,'' Jamison said. ``You just have to turn a negative into a positive and continue to play hard. Pretty much now, it's all mental. Do we continue to believe we can play well as a team?''

In other games, it was: Denver 120, Sacramento 115; New Jersery 101, Atlanta 86; Toronto 111, Orlando 108; Chicago 106, Detroit 88; Golden State 110, Houston 99; Portland 94, Utah 89; Los Angeles Clippers 90, Los Angeles Lakers 82; Philadelphia 92, New York 90; Milwaukee 98, Boston 89; and New Orleans 101, Seattle 92, OT.

At Washington, Gerald Wallace finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Bobcats. He had also stymied the Wizards the previous night, getting 34 points and 14 rebounds in a 122-102 win at Charlotte on Tuesday.

``We played them good last night, and obviously it hurt with them not having Gilbert tonight,'' said Adam Morrison, who had 11 points and seven assists off the bench. ``It feels good to get a win against a playoff team.''

Nuggets 120, Kings 115

At Denver, Carmelo Anthony had his fourth straight 30-point game with 31, George Karl returned to Denver's bench and the Nuggets beat struggling Sacramento.

Anthony also had eight rebounds and four assists, and Nene added 28 points and 12 rebounds for the Nuggets, winners of three straight.

Karl missed Tuesday's game against the Lakers to be with his son, who had surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes.

Ron Artest scored 32 points for the Kings, who have lost four straight and nine of 11.

Nets 101, Hawks 86

At East Rutherford, N.J., backup forward Bostjan Nachbar scored 26 points and New Jersey overcame a second-quarter drought for a victory.

Vince Carter added 24 points and eight assists, and Jason Kidd had 10 assists for the Nets.

Coupled with Orlando's loss to Toronto, the Nets hold a 1 1/2-game lead on the Magic for the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference with eight games to play.

Salim Stoudamire had 19 points to lead Atlanta.

Raptors 111, Magic 108

At Orlando, Fla., Chris Bosh scored 28 points, including five free throws down the stretch, to lift Toronto over Orlando.

Hedo Turkoglu shook off a recent shooting slump to score a career-high 37 points for the Magic, but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

Anthony Parker added 20 points for the Raptors, Joey Graham scored 19 and T.J. Ford had 16 points and eight assists.

Bulls 106, Pistons 88

At Auburn Hills, Mich., Kirk Hinrich scored 29 points, Luol Deng added 22 and Chicago beat listless Detroit.

Ben Wallace missed the Bulls' game against his former team after going to the hospital with a sinus inflammation.

The game almost took an ugly turn with 8:12 left.

Detroit's Richard Hamilton and Chicago's Tyrus Thomas were ejected with two technical fouls while play was stopped after exchanging heated words.

Chauncey Billups scored 17 for the Pistons, who had won five of six.

Warriors 110, Rockets 99

At Houston, Jason Richardson scored 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, and Golden State took advantage of Tracy McGrady's absence.

Baron Davis added 25 points and 10 assists for the Warriors.

Luther Head hit seven 3-pointers and scored 30 points, both career highs, filling in for McGrady, who left in the first quarter with a stiff lower back. Yao Ming scored only nine points.

Trail Blazers 94, Jazz 89

At Portland, Ore., rookie Brandon Roy scored 25 of his season-high 29 points in the second half and short-handed Portland held off Utah to snap a four-game losing streak.

The Jazz, who have already clinched the Northwest Division, trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half. Carlos Boozer had 21 points and 21 rebounds.

Travis Outlaw matched his career high with 22 points for the Blazers.

Clippers 90, Lakers 82

At Los Angeles, Corey Maggette scored 22 points, four teammates reached double figures, and the Clippers beat the Lakers for their seventh win in eight games.

The loss was the fourth in five games for the Lakers (39-36), whose lead over seventh-place Denver in the Western Conference was cut to a half-game.

The Clippers (37-37), who have won seven of their last eight games, trail their crosstown rivals by 1 1/2 games and have a 1 1/2-game lead over Golden State for the eighth and final playoff berth in the West.

Kobe Bryant had 29 points and seven rebounds to lead the Lakers.

76ers 92, Knicks 90

At New York, Andre Iguodala scored 18 points and blocked Stephon Marbury's potential winning 3-point try, giving Philadelphia a victory.

Kyle Korver added 17 points for the 76ers, who overcame Marbury's big second half.

Bucks 98, Celtics 89

At Milwaukee, Earl Boykins scored 32 points to help Milwaukee snap a seven-game losing streak.

Charlie Bell added 25 points for Milwaukee. Rajon Rondo led Boston with 16.

Hornets 101, SuperSonics 92, OT

At Oklahoma City, Bobby Jackson scored seven of his 18 points in overtime to help New Orleans overcome its lowest-scoring fourth quarter in franchise history.

Rashard Lewis led Seattle with 27 points and 10 rebounds.