Relaxed Daniels bails out Wizards

Just when the Washington Wizards seemed ready to fold Saturday night in the first game of an important homestand, Antonio Daniels proved his worth.

Daniels, maligned as an overpaid free agent bust for much of the season, hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter after the Atlanta Hawks had reduced a 25-point deficit to just five. Moments later, he found himself boxed in by two Atlanta defenders with the shot clock running out only to set up Antawn Jamison for a 3-pointer that put the Wizards up 88-77 with 6:23 left.

The Hawks never posed a real threat the rest of the game as the Wizards won for the ninth time in 13 tries. As a result, a victory tonight against the Orlando Magic would leave Washington at .500 for the first time since it was 8-8 on Dec. 6.

“[Daniels has] been real big for us, especially late in games,” coach Eddie Jordan said. “He’s playing at a very high level. When he’s out there, he can spread the floor, which is good for everybody. He enables us to get Gilbert [Arenas] off the point. He gives us a lot. He’s really making it hard for me to take him off the court.”

It’s no coincidence that the improvement shown by the Wizards (22-23) in the past month occurred when Daniels began to discover a comfort level with his new team. He has hit clutch shots, played well on defense and protected the ball — in other words, pretty much everything the Wizards hoped for when they signed the 6-foot-4 veteran guard to a five-year, $30 million deal in the offseason.

Much of Daniels’ success coincided with the team’s decision last month to buy out of the remainder of Chucky Atkins’ contract, which was in its final year.

“We had to make a decision on the playing time with Chucky and A.D.,” Jordan said. “Each one of them gave us something that the other didn’t. In the end, Chucky thought it would be better for him professionally — and it was mutual — if he could buy out his contract and play somewhere else.”

Atkins, who was signed by the Memphis Grizzlies for the rest of the season, last played for the Wizards on Jan. 7. Through that date, Daniels had scored in double figures just five times in 31 games. But in the 14 games since, Daniels has scored in double figures 11 times and finished with eight points in the three others.

“The hard part was waiting for it to happen,” said Daniels, who had 10 points and a game-high five assists against the Hawks. “I’m not thinking as much as I was when I first got here, and I’m not worrying about what happened in the first 20 games or so. I’m just looking forward to getting better, collectively and individually.”

Jordan is confident he can use Daniels late in big games because of his versatility, size, poise and decision making, particularly next to Arenas. That was evident against Atlanta on Saturday, when only Daniels and Caron Butler played the entire fourth quarter.