Wizards look to get healthy for playoff run

Few players in the NBA -- or any other league for that matter -- are as chatty as Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards. He's a go-to guy for reporters because of his colorful quotes and usually is a prolific writer in his blog on the league's website.

Caron Butler believes nobody wants to face a healthy Wizards team in the postseason. (AP)

But since his return to action last week after missing 66 games following surgery on his left knee, Arenas has been uncharacteristically quiet.

He declined to speak with the media after each of his first two games and was mum before a game Saturday night in Chicago about whether he would play the second night of a back-to-back.

Arenas, though, finally tipped his hand when he made a food order with a bellboy about an hour before tip-off and said he wanted to eat "when the game starts."

Despite sitting out against the Bulls, Arenas' comeback remains on track. The Wizards medical staff simply saw no reason to push it by playing the 6-foot-4 guard in back-to-back games.

"They're going to be real delicate with Gilbert," assistant coach Mike O'Koren said. "He's coming back from injury. He looked fine and is in great condition for being out that long. This is all precautionary. He'll be at practice Monday. We have practice Monday and Tuesday and I'm sure he'll play on Wednesday (against the Boston Celtics).

"His knee's fine, it's sound, he's played. It's just for precautionary reasons."

O'Koren spoke with the media because coach Eddie Jordan was battling a severe sinus infection. He coached on the bench during the game, but sent out his lead assistant to satisfy the media obligations.

That perhaps was fitting because the Wizards have been far from a picture of health this season. Besides Arenas, forward Caron Butler missed 21 games with a hip injury and now forward Antawn Jamison is out with a sprained right shoulder.

"We have the coach sick, Antawn went out, Gilbert didn't play," Butler said. "It's just like we can't keep all three guys out there at the same time."

But despite the health issues surrounding their big three, the Wizards clinched a playoff berth with a victory over the Miami Heat on Friday and followed up with a win Saturday over the Bulls.

With five games left in the regular season, Washington (40-37) is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, one game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers and two games behind the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers.

"You want to get as high a seed as you can, but we just want to win and continue to play good basketball and, obviously, see who we're going to play," Butler said. "We are looking at the standings, but at the same time we're concentrating on us, playing good defense, spreading the ball, making the passing game contagious."