In case you missed it, we're giving Kobe the M.V.P and Gilbert Arenas is focused. Oh yea, I got no love for Philly.

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Quarter One

10:19: The Wizards get off to a quick 6-0 start with four Songalia points and an Antonio Daniels fade-away.

8:53: Thaddeus Young steals a casual Wizards pass (Daniels is credited with the turnover, but it’s really a team thing) and it’s break away points. 9-6 Philly, all nine coming in the last 65 seconds.

8:23: The Sixers run and dunk….they can’t shot jumpers or FTs, but when it comes to the Sixers running on the Wizards, I guess that doesn’t matter. 11 straight points for Philly, Wizards still stuck on 6.

Dalembert is owning Brendan Haywood with intimidation in the paint. Meanwhile, 13 points in 2:35 for Philadelphia.

6:52: Are you kidding me? Lazy inbounds pass is picked off and a breakaway dunk by Igoudala…15-0 run. Needless to say, Coach Eddie calls a timeout. 15-6 Philly. Please! Throw a clip board, kick a water cooler….Do something Eddie! This is unacceptable!!

6:40: Chris Miller’s sideline report says that Eddie was quite "spirited" during the timeout. Whatever that means.

5:52: An offensive rebound finally results in points for Haywood….he has been working (4 offensive boards), but this is the first positive result.

5:04: Willie Green back-cuts a Lock Smith with horse blinders. Points, 19-12 Philly.

4:16: Gil checks in for Haywood….who finally picked up his first foul going for an offensive board. Reggie Nut Grabber Evans thinks everyone is cheering for him as he comes in for T. Young.

3:06: Wow….AD makes one of the prettiest moves I’ve seen him make in getting by Lou Williams and Reggie Evans with a running, twisting scoop. And1, but misses the FT. 23-17 Sixers.

2:35: Arenas hits a 3 as the Sixers collapsed on D-Song. Darius was tough enough not to turn the ball over and get it to Gilbert. 23-20 Philly.

0:32: Despite doing a little better….the Wiz are still running a bad offense of missed D-Song jumpers, missed Arenas jumpers and missed Daniels runners. AJ misses a post 1-on 1 move….Lou Williams dunk. 30-20 76ers. Wizards offensive movement? Nope.

0:08: Stevenson luckily bandages bleeding with his second three of the quarter. 30-23 Philadelphia

The Wizards got 7 offensive boards in the first but could only convert once on that Haywood tip….Philly shot 62% to 36% for the Wiz. Sixers had 18 points in the paint and assisted on 8 of 13 FGs. 11 of the points on that initial 15-0 Sixers run came on the break.

Quarter Two

11:31: Carney picks the pocket of a lackadaisical Gil Arenas and there’s scramble for the ball (actually, I think the photo in the post below depicts this), but Reggie Evans somehow commits an off the ball foul. Gil turns the luck into a three. 30-26 Sixers.

10:56: Gilbert’s poor bounce pass on the break gets easily picked off….Lou Williams with a monster oop to Igoudala. 32-26 Philly.

TAKE CARE OF THE DAMN BALL GILBERT!

10:30: Lou Williams knocks a 3 in Roger Mason’s grill. 8 points in about 6 minutes for Sweet Lou.

9:47: Pick and dive down the middle of the lane opens up Blatche to receive a pass from DeShawn. Bucket and foul…missed FT. 35-30 Sixers.

The Cleaner checks into the game.

8:23: Gil with an ill-advised pull up…hand in his face, disruption to the offense.

They are interviewing the wives of AD and AJ about a charity event…..something about dresses made of chocolate. Boy, Jamison’s wife has that deeeeeep Southern accent. Both of them are some beautiful women though….good luck raising money for kid’s books.

6:41: The Potomac Rainmaker nails a long three….let’s hope that loosens up the Philly D as Phil Chenier suggests. 39-37 Sixers.

6:03: Very Nice…I like!! Blatche gives the ball to The Cleaner on the perimeter….D- Mac drives the ball as Blatche dives…making himself available for the pass and the bucket. Nice combo kids. 41-39 76ers.

4:34: Uh oh…full court Philly press is set up after made FTs. Wizards break it with no hiccups this time….just can’t convert a Roger Mason lay-up attempt.

3:42: The Cleaner (Dominic McGuire) tips and takes care of the mess that Haywood makes with his miss. 47-43 Philly.

3:26: Nice work for Haywood to get his hand in to deflect the ball from a wide open Sixer in the paint. The Wizards finally get some transition points (Daniels). Timeout Philly, they’re up 47-45.

3:07: Don’t sleep on Igoudala’s three pointer…DeShawn. 50-45 76ers.

2:45: Antonio Daniels has been a warrior going to the basket….seems like he gets hit every time. 50-47 Philly.

2:18: DeShawn ties the game at 50 with a three after getting a steal (Philly’s 5th turnover of the quarter)

2:01: DeShawn draws a charge on Thaddeus Young. Some flashes of smart basketball going on now.

1:39: DeShawn draws a foul on Jason Smith with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. His 2 FTs give the Wiz a 52-50 lead.

1:25: Unbelievable…..Andre miller gets the ball WIDE open on the baseline. Everyone thinks he going to shot. Brendan even leaves his post protecting the basket to block out. Miller just drives the open lane, but misses the lay-up.

0:18: Stevenson has to throw up a garbage three with the shot clock running down and the offense stalling. That’s the type of night for him…as he makes it, his 4th of the half. A 16-6 run to close out the second. I just hope DeShawn doesn’t start gunning as he usually does when he starts hot. 57-53 Wizards.

Half stats? Eff ‘em….just go win the game.

Quarter Three

10:58: Well DeShawn continues his hotness with a baseline J.

10:29: A Stevenson expected heat check is "off the mark"

7:30: I see two break-away Sixer dunks while I’m text messaging with friends like a teenage girl….gotta work those Saturday night plans. 63-62 76ers.

6:47: And another easy two. 67-64 Philly

6:30: Gil comes back in…time to focus on him. Make one mistake and you will NEVER be forgiven Gilbert! (sarcasm captain)

5:47: Gil has to throw up and miss a long three with the shot clock running down…a product of the environment.

"Haywood is clearly thinking about Dalembert in the paint." Steve Buckhantz.

5:03: Igoudala confident trey on a defensively stuttering Gilbert Arenas. Wildcat over Wildcat. 72-69 Philadelphia.

Meanwhile….Prada is politely requesting that the Wiz get back on D – high hopes, huh? Washington has had trouble getting back after their own made baskets.

And Comcast freezes for….hold……holding……ok, this is abnormally long.

And I’m continuing to look at the Igoudala freeze frame. It has literally been 70 seconds at this point….and counting.

A "technical difficulties" message finally comes on at the 90 second mark or so (The graphic just lies in the bottom right corner…not as creative as you would think. I’d like to see something like this.)

And we’re back on after about two minutes. It’s 75-72 Philly with 3:53 left.

The report from Comcast…13 offensive bounds for Wizards in the third quarter, 5 for Philly.

2:47: Igoudala is putting Philly on his shoulders with his third 3 of the game. 78-74 Sixers.

The Wizards offense looks congested…..or funky. They are giving themselves opportunities, but not the right opportunities.

0:57: Potomac Rain (Mason Jr.) with a trey….first FG in just about 6 minutes for Washington. 82-78 Sixers.

0:00: Gil has the ball in his hands with the quarter clock running down….less time on the shot clock. It ends up in Songaila’s hands with barely a second on the clock. For what reason? I’m not sure…but his shot is an air ball/shot-clock violation. The third quarter ends with an 84-78 76ers lead.

Andre Miller stat line 16 points, 10 assists, 2 turnovers . At this point, Washington is barely treading water. The energy that I craved? Pretty much non-existent….from the Verizon Center crowd as well.

This might be the most important 4th quarter of the year for Washington.

Quarter Four

11:40: The smooth offense gets Gilbert an open three to start the quarter. Nails it….good stuff. 84-81 Philly.

11:13: Arenas takes Reggie Evans off the dribble for a deuce.

10:39: Gilbert pushes the ball of the miss and draws a foul on Lou Williams….pretty much a flop by Gil. He crossed to this right, stuck his left arm out there and then gave the "somebody just contacted me" twitch…foul call. Superstars get calls, works for me.

10:27: Gil proceeds to hit a long two. Looks like confidence is building as DC takes the 85-84 lead.

10:00: Gil’s attempted pass to AD leads to a turnover.. with the camera angle, I couldn’t tell whose fault it was….Gil gets the credit in the stat sheet.

9:36: Steve Buckhantz talks of the "sold out" Verizon Center crowd…but after a Gilbert Arenas 7-0 run all the crowd can do is sit on their hands and watch the teams go to the huddle. Still 85-84.

9:26: Gil’s heat check 3 falls short.

9:11: Roger Mason Jr. picks up his 5th foul. With Gil in the game, his lack of D is exposed even more.

8:29: Igoudala with ANOTHER three….that dude is cut. 88-87 Philly.

8:13: Gil with a pretty behind the back move to the basket and reverse lay-up…..the focus is becoming more sharp by the minute. Good to see Gil plant off the surgical leg on the shoot too. 89-88 Washington.

7:36: What is Songaila’s nickname? How about "The Dirty"? D-Song’s baby hook gives the lead back to the Wizards, 91-90.

6:20: The Wizards offense has picked up….thanks to continuous work in the paint. Gilbert drives and dishes to Andray. Now THAT’S what I’m talking about! 17-7 fourth so far. Bench points 35-16 DC.

5:48: Arenas reverse back cut reverse in offense… he gets a sweet bounce pass from D Song and then Arenas gets it to Jamison for the lay-up…Ball movement everyone. 99-91 Wizards.

5:10: Arenas steal…..doesn’t go 1 on 3 like he usually would…pulls back, gets it to D-Song in the paint whose eyes are always open and flips it to AJ for a lay-up. Timeout Sixers.

You know what’s funny….pretty much every media source, including Comcast (just now), is depending on Arenas’ blog for coverage.

4:54: Haywood bodies Dalembert into a miss.

4:37: D-Song in the paint against EVERYONE (ok, 3 Sixers) for the baby hook. 10-0 Wiz run. 101-91 Wizards.

This team is SOOOO much better without Caron Butler. (more sarcasm)

4:16: Igoudala's fake dribble penetration makes Jamison fall on his butt and the crowd go "oooooooo" – Iggy is thrown off and misses the gimme.

3:51: Ball movement all over turns into a DeShawn Peter North Three on Philly’s face (Is Peter North still alive by the way? I wonder who his successor is.). 12 point Wizards lead, 104-92.

2:29: Arenas with a looooong three with three seconds left on the shot clock. One of those "Nooo…..YES!" shots. 107-92 DC.

1:30: Gil with a bounce pass for an AJ runner. Don’t know what to do, huh Philly? 109-93 Wizards.

And the game has a rather anti-climactic ending as the Sixers fail to score a FG in the final 8 minutes and 29 seconds….getting only 4 points in that time off FTs. I’m sure everyone in Philly is absolutely baffled. In the most important fourth quarter of the year, the actions of Gilbert Arenas spoke louder than any words he will ever put in his blog. His energy, his spawning of offensive ball movement for his team put the 76ers on their ass. From there, the defense became easy. A sign of things to come? For tonight, it feels excellent to be a Wizards fan. 109-93 Wizards is your final score.

Noticeable Stats:

• Gilbert Arenas leads the Wizards with +21
• Rebounds: 48-36 Wizards.
• Gilbert helped secure the ball with 7 defensive rebounds.
• 24 assists to 11 turnovers for the Wizards.
• Antonio Daniels was the only Wizard with a minus at -4.
• Jamison 25 and 13

Later folks….that's it. Crash & Burn Philly.

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