CHICAGO — After clinching their fourth straight playoff berth with a win over the Miami Heat, the Washington Wizards players talked about their next task: taking the necessary steps to improve their standing in the Eastern Conference and possibly vying for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Wizards took an initial step with last night’s 99-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls at United Center.
With the win and a loss by the 76ers, Washington (40-37) moved back into fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings, holding a one-game advantage over Philadelphia. The Wizards — the 13th team in NBA history to make the playoffs after starting the season 0-5 — pulled within 1½ games of the Cavaliers, who hold the fourth spot but have lost two straight.
The victory came despite the absences of both Gilbert Arenas, who sat out last night’s game as a precaution as he continues to work his way back form knee surgery, and Antawn Jamison, who sprained his right shoulder Wednesday.
Center Brendan Haywood, who scored a career-high 25 points, grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and blocked two shots, helped fill the void.
“A lot of guys looked for me early [and were] able to get me off on some easy touches inside,” Haywood said. “And I just tried to come out there with a lot of intensity and trust and sustained it for the whole game.”
And behind Haywood’s lead the Wizards outrebounded the Bulls 53-28, which led to a second-chance point advantage of 20-4.
“Give Brendan Haywood a lot of credit,” said Wizards associate head coach Mike O’Koren, who filled in for Eddie Jordan in the pre- and post-game news conferences because the coach battled flu-like symptoms. “Led by him, we outrebound Chicago 53-28, which is really controlling the boards. And we had a balanced attack. Without Gilbert and Antawn to have a balanced attack — five guys in double figures — it’s a real nice thing.”
After tying the game 8-8 midway through the first quarter, the Wizards went on to take a 25-22 lead heading into the second.
But the Bulls (30-46) overtook them in the second quarter, using a 13-6 run to go up 35-31 with five minutes left in the half. The Wizards tied the game at 35-35, but the Bulls outscored them down the stretch to lead 43-42 at halftime.
Caron Butler made four of his first five shot attempts to record 10 first-quarter points. He took only two shots in the second quarter and missed both, but scored eight points third quarter. Darius Songaila also scored eight points on 4-for-5 shooting in the third quarter and guard DeShawn Stevenson added seven as the Wizards took a 76-64 lead after three quarters.
“We knew that we needed to do a better job and come out with a better effort in the first half,” Songaila said. “We were out there kinda loose and trading baskets and that’s not how to win a game. There’s a lot more at stake for us. Obviously Caron and [Antonio Daniels] did a great job of leadership and we came out, concentrated and got some big shots and big stops on defense.”
The Wizards continued rolling in the fourth and won the season series over Chicago 2-1.
Butler finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Songaila and Roger Mason Jr. added 14 points apiece and Stevenson scored 11.
Arenas — who for a fourth straight day refused to speak to reporters — and the training staff decided to hold him out of the game because the Wizards had played the night before and the guard is still working his way back into playing shape. In his first two games back, Jordan was under strict instructions to limit Arenas to no more than 20 to 25 minutes a game.
Arenas, who averaged nearly 40 minutes a game in the first eight games of the season before he had another surgery, played 19 minutes in his return on Wednesday and posted 17 points. Friday night, Arenas played 20 minutes and finished with 13 points and eight assists.
He is expected to play in the Wizards’ game against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday at Verizon Center.
Jamison said Friday he hopes his injury heals in time for the game.
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