A Choking in the Making

[cappital92]

Wizards Guard Gilbert Arenas to Have Knee Surgery and Is Essentially Done for the Season

04-05-2007 3:23 PM

By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas was to have surgery Thursday on his left knee and is essentially done for the season.

Arenas was diagnosed with a lateral meniscus tear and was to have arthroscopic surgery later in the day at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington. The Wizards said the recovery time will be two to three months, meaning he might play again this season only if Washington manages to make the NBA finals without him.

Arenas was injured in the first quarter of Wednesday night's 108-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Wizards have lost both of their All-Stars to injuries in less than a week. Caron Butler broke a bone in his hand in Sunday's loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and is out for six weeks.

Without their two best players, the Wizards are stumbling to the finish of what was a promising season only two months ago. They lost back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday to the lottery-bound Bobcats and have fallen behind the Miami Heat in the race for the Southeast Division title.

Arenas averaged 28.4 points and six assists in 74 games this season and made his third consecutive All-Star appearance. He started every game until Wednesday night, when he was benched at the opening tip-off for being late for a shootaround earlier in the day.

Arenas entered the game late in the first quarter and was injured less than two minutes later, when Charlotte's Gerald Wallace inadvertently crashed into Arenas' knee after an off-balance reverse layup. Arenas, who was battling for rebounding position, was unable to avoid Wallace and his knee bent the wrong way, much like that of a quarterback who has been hit low by a rushing lineman.

It is the first significant injury for Arenas since an abdominal strain sidelined him for 27 games during the 2003-04 season. He missed only two games each of the last two seasons.

Arenas finishes the regular season with 2,105 points scored, becoming the franchise's first player since Walt Bellamy to score more than 2,000 points in three consecutive seasons. He also established a single-game franchise scoring record with 60 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 17.

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Well, somebody take the Wizards off the Hibachi. They're cooked.

[Guest]

HIBACHI

I wonder if the Bulls can draw them in the playoffs and win this time.

[cappital92]

HIBACHI

I wonder if the Bulls can draw them in the playoffs and win this time.

If the Wiz can get in, which I HIGHLY doubt. Heck,the Bobcats beat them by 20 on Sunday. The Bulls could play their bench like a preseason game in their NABDL team's arena.

[Audiodrama]

I wouldn't call it "choking" when your two best players go down with injuries, thus handicapping your team. That's called bad luck.

[jtthasportfreak]

Not only that, but choking would be coming from ahead to lose in the final :03.5 of a game. The Toronto Raptors are available for comment

[nyk]

This is a tough break for Washington....There always next year

[HowBoutThemFins]

Choking? Not so much. Ask Dallas about choking. The Wiz are just getting hurt at a bad time. They're done.

[rams80]

Not only that, but choking would be coming from ahead to lose in the final :03.5 of a game. The Toronto Raptors are available for comment

I loved the Wizards call on that.

NO! NOT POSSIBLE! NOT POSSIBLE!

[LuvTheNats]

"The Curse of Le Bullet" I tell you!!!!!

[OB33]

The last quarter-century has been a tough break for Washington....There always next year

Fixed.

I doubted the Wizards were going to advance past the first round of the playoffs with Caron and Gilbert but this pretty much puts the nails in the coffin. They still have about a 5 game lead over 7th place last I checked, so it will still be difficult for the Wizards to fall out of contention but it is certainly possible.

At least, the Wizards should be able to get a higher draft pick out of all of this and Gilbert won't have to rush back from this injury which means he should be 100% healthy for next year.

[See Red]

No team can lose their top two players (about 50 PPG a night combined) and have any sort of success so it's hardly a choke. It's just a crappy break is all.

[SteveR]

They'd have to blow a 7-game lead over Indiana with 8 to play to drop all the way to 9th and out of the playoffs.

That being said, this week's worth of luck couldn't have happened to a more deserving franchise. The players? No. I have no beef with anyone from GM Ernie Grunfeld on down. Heck, I even like some of them.

It's parts of the upper management that deserves to rot in the eternal depths of ineptitude, most recently frequented by the likes of Bidwill and Sterling.

[NJTank]

I wouldn't call it "choking" when your two best players go down with injuries, thus handicapping your team. That's called bad luck.

I was going to say the same thing

[BaltimoreFan]

I don't think they were going to go very far anyway. The team wasn't very deep and I wouldn't really call Gilbert Arenas an ideal PG. So this basically just gives whoever they match up with a first round bye.