WASHINGTON -- Peel off the cobwebs. Get out the dust pan. One of the NBA's best shootouts is back.There was a time in the middle of this decade when Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas conjured up some Wild West battles even though both play in the East.
In 2005-06, in the four games the two met, Washington's Arenas averaged 32.3 points to 31.3 for Miami's Wade. Arenas had a 47-point game against the Heat and Wade had games of 41 and 40 points against the Wizards.
But then injuries hit both hard. Wade missed 62 games in 2006-07 and 2007-08 due to shoulder and knee problems. For Arenas, it was even worse as he missed 149 combined games in 2007-08 and 2008-09 because of knee trouble.
So when the two squared off Wednesday night at the Verizon Center, it was their first meeting since April 8, 2006.
It was a nostalgic reunion even if Wade, a shooting guard and Arenas, a point guard, didn't guard each other. Wade scored a game-high 40 points and Arenas had 32 as the Heat beat the Wizards 93-89.
"There was one time we were both looking at each other (at the free-throw line),'' Wade said. "We just smiled because of all the battles that we've had over the years. I'm happy to see him back as a fan of basketball. Knowing Gil, I'm happy to see him healthy. Hopefully, he'll just keep getting better.''
If Arenas was happy to face Wade again, he didn't let it be known. Arenas, apparently upset at comments having been made about him during his injury-riddled seasons, only speaks to the media these days to avoid being fined. He was docked $25,000 and the team hit $25,000 for offenses last month.On Wednesday, Arenas kept reporters waiting for more than a half hour after the locker rooms opened. Then he mumbled a few answers.
"It's just fun to play again,'' Arenas said when asked about going against Wade.
But Wade had talked about the meeting at the free-throw line and the two did hug after the game. Did Arenas, who played in just 13 games in 2007-08 and in just two last season, say anything like, "It's good to be back?"
"No,'' Arenas said. "We spent the whole summer together.''
Indeed they did, working out together in Chicago with training guru Tim Grover. So maybe Arenas really does concur somewhat with Wade that their battles are fun.
One guy really enjoyed Wednesday's scoring fest. That would be Miami assistant coach Bob McAdoo, who won three scoring titles with Buffalo in the mid-1970s. Wade won last year's crown and Arenas has been close in scoring races, finishing fourth in 2005-06 and third in 2006-07.
"Yeah, it was fun (to watch),'' said McAdoo, who ribs Wade about leading him in scoring titles and cracked to Wade recently that he reached the 10,000-point mark in his fifth season while Wade didn't get there until this season, his seventh. "It was interesting to see how Gilbert is going to come back from his knee injuries. But he has his explosiveness, his quickness. ... I've been in shootouts with Pistol Pete (Maravich) and Downtown Freddie Brown and Rick Barry and David Thompson. I've been in battles like that, too. And, when you're going good, you know just about everything you throw up is going in.''
That was more the case Wednesday with Wade. He shot 14-of-26 from the field. Arenas was just 9-of-27, but he did shoot 12-of-15 from the foul line.
After the game, the trivia question was put to Washington forward Caron Butler to name the last time Wade and Arenas faced each other. Butler is a good guy to ask since he was Wade's Miami teammate in 2003-04 and has been Arenas' teammate with the Wizards since 2005."2006?'' Butler said.
The Butler did it. He nailed it.
"It's just fun to see both of them out there again,'' Butler said. "Both of them had similar (knee) injuries.''
And everybody knows how both are so important to their teams. The Heat, which won the NBA title in 2006, slumped to 15-67 in 2007-08 when Wade had a bum knee and was shut down for the season in early March.
After making the playoffs four straight seasons, the Wizards went just 19-63 last season. Several other players got hurt, but Arenas' injury was the killer.
"Gilbert is one of those guys that, we don't play alike but we're similar in the pressure we put on the defense,'' said Wade, who raised his scoring average to 29.2 while Arenas pushed his to 27.6.
In the end, Wade put more pressure on the Wizards than Arenas did on the Heat. Wade, who played all 24 minutes of the second half and logged 43 for the game to Arenas' 38, gave Miami the lead for good at 91-89 on a 20-footer with 24.6 seconds left. He hit a foul shot with 15.9 seconds left for a 92-89 advantage.
Arenas' final seconds were erratic. He lost the ball on a drive and later attempted to throw an alley-oop pass to Brandon Haywood that clanged off the rim.
"It's not rocket scientist,'' Arenas said of that play, a comment that later drew laughs from reporters for the misused word and perhaps was the only worthy soundbite provided by the once-gregarious interviewee.So maybe Arenas really didn't end up having gangs of fun in his reunion with Wade. But the wait for the next Wild East shootout shouldn't be long, with the teams playing again next Tuesday and on Nov. 27.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com and on Twitter @christomasson
