[MJG]

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td></td><td width="20"><center>@</center></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><center>8 - 8</center></td><td width="20">
</td><td><center>10 - 7
</center></td></tr></tbody> </table>

8:00 PM on TNT

Season series tied 0 - 0

<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr><td></td><td><center>- Key Match: PF -

</center><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td width="34">

21.1

</td><td width="50"><center>PPG</center></td><td width="34">22.1
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">
</td></tr><tr><td width="34">

11.5

</td><td width="50"><center>RPG</center></td><td width="34">10.6
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">
</td></tr><tr><td width="34">

2.1

</td><td width="50"><center>APG</center></td><td width="34">2.2
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">
</td></tr><tr><td width="34">

1.6

</td><td width="50"><center>SPG</center></td><td width="34">0.8</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">
</td></tr><tr><td width="34">

0.2

</td><td width="50"><center>BPG</center></td><td width="34">2.0
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">
</td></tr><tr><td width="34">

38.8

</td><td width="50"><center>MPG</center></td><td width="34">36.7</td></tr></tbody></table></td><td></td></tr></tbody> </table>

[KnickerBlogger]

Hope you don't mind a little self-pimping. A little pre-game analysis.

This week’s TNT early game features the Wizards matched up against the Pacers. During the offseason, Washington’s biggest loss was the departure of Larry Hughes. The shooting guard, an All-Defense First Team selection, moved to Cleveland in the hopes that playing alongside LeBron would bring him a championship. Hughes hedged his gamble with a $65M contract that he can use to console himself if he retires ringless. Left with a huge hole in their lineup, the Wizards took a bad situation and turned it into a positive. GM Ernie Grunfeld sent underachiever of the millenium Kwame Brown and throw-in Laron Profit to Los Angeles for Caron Butler & Chuck Atkins. It may have been the biggest fleecing of the offseason this side of Boris Diaw.

Read the rest: http://www.courtsidetimes.net/articles/273/

[MJG]

In some news that may please some, not only will Tinsley miss his fourth straight game tonight, but Artest will be sitting out as well.

Honestly, bizarre as it may sound, this actually worries me more than if they were playing. I had a good feeling about this game, us stealing one on the road against a good team on national television. However, wouldn't it be so Wizards-like for us to just get crushed now that their arguably top player will be sitting this one out?

I'll stick with my good feeling and call a surprising win for the team though, got to try to stay positive.

[afireinside]

We have to win this. We need to go on a win streak to keep the teams moral high. This inconsistincy is really annoying.

[MJG]

We're up 30-18 after one, looking about as sharp as we can. Haywood was awesome to open up the game, and Jamison has been even better the whole quarter. We're not going to be this good all game -- though Arenas is only 1-5 shooting, so he'll probably swing up -- but we've started on the right foot.

[MJG]

That was obviously going to happen, no surprise there. Now the question is, will the team roll over in the second half, or not let the comeback faze them? Jackson almost certainly won't shoot that well for the rest of the game, so the Pacers will likely come back down to earth, but we can't depend on that. We've got to start making better decisions and plays ourselves.

- Jamison: 12 points (5-11 FG, 1-4 3P, 1-2 FT), 8 rebounds

- Arenas: 9 points (3-9 FG, 1-1 3P, 2-2 FT), 4 assists

- Haywood: 8 points (3-5 FG, 2-2 FT), 3 blocks

- Butler: 8 points (2-8 FG, 4-4 FT), 3 steals

50-51 at the half, basically a new game for the final 24. Should be interesting to see how we react.

[f22egl]

It looks like balanced scoring and the Wizards are getting the line more than the pacers. The Wizards have shot 15 out of 18 free throw (83%) and while the Indiana has only gotten to the line 5 times.