Wizards beat Bucks in team effort

Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Scott Skiles taunts official
Sean Wright and is ejected from the game moments later. 
Is it just me, or do you all remember Skiles being a ridiculous
three point shooter in NBA Jam?  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Wizards' Season Record: 7-10
Friday's Game: Washington vs. Toronto
Game Time: 7:00 p.m. ET. on Comcast SportsNet
and 106.7 The Fan.  Nationally on NBALP.

Six Wizards scored in double-figures last night in a balanced 104-102 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.  Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 22 points and 9 assists, while Luke Ridnour and Hakim Warrick led Milwaukee off the bench with 20 points each in the defeat.

With Gil in charge of point guard duties, co-captains Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison chipped in 15 points a piece, while Nick Young, in his sixth start of the season, his fifth straight, scored 21 points and sank 7-for-7 from the free throw line.  In the last five games with Young as a starter the Wizards are 4-1.

Just before the first quarter was over, Milwaukee's Head Coach Scott Skiles was ejected after taunting a referee.  Skiles told the ref to call a technical, after which the ref decided he had heard enough from Skiles and booted him from the court.  Rookie Brandon Jennings had an off night with 17 points on 7-for-21 from the field (he's becoming more like Allen Iverson every day), and Andrew Bogut only had 8 points on 4-for-11 from the field.  Lots of credit has to go to Brendan Haywood, whose 8 points, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and 14 rebounds only contributes to what has been a career year for B defensively.

Despite not having their Head Coach on the bench, Milwaukee's reserves and assistant coaching staff did a great job keeping the Bucks in the game and gave Washington trouble in the last few minutes of the game.

During crunch time in the fourth quarter, Earl Boykins had another heroic night with 11 points off the bench in the final minutes (13 in the game), while Andray Blatche chipped in 10 points in the game to round out Washington's top six.  Blatche has been a consistent reserve for Washington this season and Boykins has been "the closer," always ready to make the big fourth quarter shots.  In fact, the crowd enjoyed Boykins performance so much, a portion started to chant "MVP."  And Mike Miller?  Well, maybe this picture set explains why he was wearing that blinding, festive, red on the bench.

The 7-10 Wizards have won four of their last five games and will host the Toronto Raptors this Friday in search of their first three-game win streak of the season.  Washington defeated the Raptors two days ago in Toronto, and yesterday, the Atlanta Hawks absolutely demoralized the Raptors in a 146-115 rout.  Chris Bosh, who was limited to only 2 points in 16 minutes played, felt the way his team played defense "was just a total embarrassment."  Toronto has given up over 100 points to opponents in their last 11 straight games, and are 2-9 in that span.  When Toronto has limited their opponent to under 100, the Raptors are 5-0 on the season.

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