There was a, howyousay, "miscommunication" over on DCist about the Wizards game last night, so here's my recap for you to enjoy on my bandwidth. All the better to rub it in to all my Detroit peoples.

Richard Hamilton. Rasheed Wallace. Chris Webber. All names from the Wizards past that went on to bigger and better things with other teams. All three were at the Phone Booth last night with the visiting Detroit Pistons trying to reclaim their share of first place in the Eastern Conference and avenge last Saturday's loss. It was not to be, however, as Washington raced out to an early lead they would never lose and sent the Pistons back to Deeeeetroit with a 104-99 loss. It wasn't all roses for Washington though. Antawn Jamison went down just over six minutes into the game with a sprained knee after landing awkwardly following a fast break attempt and did not return.

Without #4 in the line-up, head coach Eddie Jordan inserted Calvin Booth to play alongside of Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler. But he wasn't afraid to go small either, and did so late in the game, matching up Butler, Jarvis Hayes, and Etan Thomas against Wallace, Webber and Antonio McDyess for much of the fourth. The small line-up didn't hurt Washington on the boards, in fact, they out-rebounded Detroit by one. The Pistons never really took advantage of their height along the front line, as evidenced by the 36 points in the paint scored by each team. Instead of going to work down low, Webber and Wallace just kept bombing away from the outside.

DeShawn Stevenson did his part to make up for Jamison's lost production, scoring 15 points on 7-8 shooting. Booth provided five rebounds and lots of hustle in his 20 minutes. Agent Zero led the Wizards charge with 36, while Butler added 13 points and five steals. After eight assists and five rebounds in the first half, I thought Arenas might be in the running for a triple double, but he finished with "only" seven boards to go with his final tally of 11 assists. Chauncey Billups led five Pistons in double figures with 24 points. The newly signed Webber only managed six points. He was the only Detroit starter not in double figures.

As of press time, Jamison's condition was unknown, although Coach Jordan said he would undergo an MRI today and would not make the trip to Toronto tonight to take on the Raptors. A prolonged absence would be a big blow to an already thin front line. Jamison, you may recall, hurt his knee two weeks ago at home against the Celtics.

To their credit, the Wizards are staying positive and focused on what they need to do in Toronto tonight against the Raptors. "We have to come out and play more focused," Stevenson said. "That's a guy averaging 20 points per game, so you're going to miss him tremendously, but other guys have to step up and try to play that role." Jarvis Hayes agreed, "It's some big shoes to fill, offensively and defensively, but we have the personnel to keep the ship afloat."

The Wizards, at 27-17, once again have the best record in the Eastern Conference. A few more W's would also wrap up the Eastern Conference All-Star coaching job for Jordan, something the team is very aware of. "That's something that we as a team strive for," said Hayes. "Not only are we trying to get the best seed in the East, we're trying to get the accolades that go along with that. Not only for the team, but for the city."

Yeah, they lost in OT. But if you would have told an 11 year-old leafblower way back in the day "Someday you'll be able to be a part of the media and go into the Celtics locker room after a game and interview the players," that 11 year-old kid would have been jump up and down happy. Heck, 32 year-old leafblower was downright giddy when the appointed time came around on Saturday night.

It's funny, I have no qualms asking any of the Wizards players questions in the locker room, but I was nervous as hell in trying to do the same thing to the C's after the game. I think I gave Rajon Rondo the worst interview he's ever been subjected to in his short pro career. I've been watching this team (although not necessarily these players) for years and I was a little overwhelmed by the experience.

I was so happy with what I found in the locker room though. The guys on the team seemed tight and although everyone was down because of the loss, there was a sense of optimism in the air. They took the Wizards best shot and almost took them down. They knew they could have won that game and they were confident they'd get one sooner or later.

With all the injuries, lots of fans want the team to tank games (or at least lose as many as possible) so they'll be in a position to get Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. But after talking to the team, seeing them in the locker room and hearing each and every player say how much they want to win, it's impossible for me to root for that to happen.

The Wizards PR staff was nice enough to let me sit in the lower press area for this one game, hence the photos, some of which I think are pretty amazing if I do say so myself. The top photo here of Rajon and Gilbert is quite possibly my favorite photo that I've ever taken. It's definitely getting printed and framed.

Shooting NBA action is much harder than doing a concert or even a MLS game. You have to be ready at all times. But I think I did OK and wonder what I could do if I wasn't eight rows back behind the basket support. Still, Saturday night was an incredible experience that I won't forget for quite some time. I was there, after the game, a peer of people like Steve Bulpett and even Peter May. Good times.

My official game recap will be up on DCist shortly. You can see all of my photos over in the game photo gallery.

Another night, another buzzer beater. This time by Caron Butler. That's what you get for double teaming Agent Zero! Full report on DCist soon.

**UPDATE** Clicky

Gilbert only scored 16, but says the next time he drops 50, it will be on Portland. The C's are in town Saturday!

Eight player trade between Golden State and Indiana.

Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod to the Indiana Pacers for Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell.

Makes sense for the Pacers, although they just added ALOT of money to their payroll for the long term. But they had to get rid of Jackson and Jasikevicius never really panned out for them. GS had interest in Harrington over the summer.

Interesting that the Warriors gave up Digou, he was an "untouchable" last year. Not sure this makes the Pacers that much better, but I hope Mike D. Jr. gets some space to finally do his thing. But is he redundant with Danny Granger there? Where is Jackson going to play when JRich comes back for GS? And what does Murphy add for Indiana? He doesn't rebound any better than Jeff Foster or shoot as well as J Oneal.

I say GS gets the better of this deal. They just sent off two bad contracts and so-so players to the Pacers.

But is Indiana going to flip Dunleavy to the Clips for Corey Maggette?

More later.

At this point, not double teaming Gilbert Arenas with the game on the line is akin to pitching to David Ortiz with men on base in the 9th inning. Bad Idea Jeans. Two game winners in 12 days for Agent Zero. And I got to see both of them! The full report is over at DCist.

Also, D.C. United finally make with the player acquisition, as opposed to all the player dismissal of late. Luciano Emilio, come on down!

PS - Carlos Boozer, 12-18 from the floor for 27 points and 13 boards.