Around the Beltway Sports Report

The less said and written about that Bullets game in Utah last night, the better. Washington didn’t show up. It was the last night of a 5-game road trip, a circumstance when team’s usually lose badly. The Bullets played without Caron Butler, Antonio Daniels, and, of course, Gilbert Arenas. Nevertheless, you’re not supposed to lose by 42 points. Ever. Not even to good teams on the last game of a road trip when you’re playing with much less than a full deck. It’s just not supposed to happen. Bad Bullets. Bad.
On the injury front, perhaps, Ivan Carter writes there might finally be a bit of good news.

- According to one team source I spoke with, Arenas is “very close.” If Dr. Connell signs off, the plan would be to bring Arenas off the bench and play him between 15 and 20 minutes. Then, the doctor and athletic trainers will be very interested to see how the knee responds the day after he sees game action. One issue: Gilbert’s wind.
He said it’s not even close to what it needs to be to play a full game and, because the team hasn’t practiced the entire trip, he’s been limited to individual workouts. He went through an intense one prior to Monday’s game. When he took a seat not far from where I was sitting, he was gasping. “Thin air up here,” he said.
-One thing is clear based on the conversations I’ve had: if the Wizards were out of the playoff hunt, Arenas would probably be shut down for the season right now, but, because they’re alive and he wants to play, the door is open.
-Antonio Daniels (left wrist) and Caron Butler (left hamstring) will be evaluated today and tomorrow. Daniels said he was set to see a hand specialist at some point today but told me that he’s playing against the Bucks. “It can’t get any worse,” he said.
-Butler doesn’t believe that the hamstring problem is related to the left hip issues he had earlier and he hoped that a couple of days off would be enough for it loosen up and allow him to play against Milwaukee. The good news, I guess, is that he said the hip hasn’t been a problem at all.

If the Bullets can finally get semi-healthy, they can knock off the Cavaliers or the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs, I’m convinced of that. However, they just can’t keep going on like this. Antonio Daniels’ old body has got to  hold together. Caron Butler must stay in the game. Gilbert Arenas must show up and be at least 75% of what he was before his injuries began.
Big win for the Nationals in their first road game of the season. Game MVP Lastings Milledge hit a home run and scored the winning run in the top half of the 9th inning. Matt Chico didn’t pitch particularly well in his first start, but good innings from Saul Rivera in the 8th and Jesus Colome in the 9th, combined with a 5-run 9th inning offensive explosion, sealed the game for Washington. Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns are off to hot starts this season.
Washington is now 2-0 in 2008. The Nats don’t play today, but return in Philadelphia Wednesday night at 7 PM.
Alex Ovechkin — the NHL MVP if there is any justice in this world — calls this the most important week of his pro career. No wonder. The Caps begin a 3-game home stand tonight with the Carolina Hurricanes. Games at the Phone Booth against Tampa Bay and Florida follow soon after. At stake is a playoff spot and/or the Southeast Division title. Washington needs 3 wins and maybe some help to get where it wants to go — the NHL playoffs. Even if the Caps win all 3 games, some team ahead of them in the standings must lose for Washington to keep playing this season.
Only Detroit, San Jose and Pittsburgh have been better than the Caps since Bruce Boudreau took over as head coach. Nevertheless, it hasn’t been enough. The big stretch run begins tonight against the Hurricanes. DC Pro Sports Report will have a report on the game up later today. Stay tuned.