Arenas strong again as Wizards top Clippers

Arenas also dished out 12 assists to go along with seven rebounds and four steals for the Wizards, who have won seven of their last eight and 13 of their last 16 games.

Caron Butler scored 27 points for Washington, while Antawn Jamison ended with 19.

"(Arenas) was doing a great job distributing the basketball and making some big shots," said Butler. "He did a good job of playing good basketball tonight. He played real solid, and everyone was just making shots and feeding off his energy."

Elton Brand had 29 points and 12 boards for the Clippers, who dropped to 1-2 on their current six-game road trip.

Courtesy of a 10-2 run to close out the first quarter, the Clippers held a 39-29 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

Corey Maggette’s layup early in the second quarter gave LA a 44-31 lead before Arenas and the Wizards finally caught fire. Washington answered with 12 consecutive points to draw within a point before closing the first half out with a 12-2 spurt to take a 66-57 lead into the locker room.

Arenas’ three-point play with under a second remaining capped the second quarter and gave the versatile Washington guard 29 points in the first half on 11-of-16 shooting. Washington outscored LA 37-18 in the decisive second quarter.

"We had a big run in the second quarter and guys were making big shots and making plays on the defensive end," said Arenas. "The game changed and we seemed to be more aggressive as the game went along."

Washington led by as many as 17 in the third quarter and took a 93-80 lead into the final period. The Clippers pulled within 10 early in the fourth before the Wizards won going away.

"(Arenas) got really hot so we started sending more guys at him to try to slow him down," said Brand. "Then Caron Butler got hot, Jamison hit some big shots, and that’s what they do. They are playing really well right now."

Game Notes

Chris Kaman had 17 points and 10 rebounds for LA, while Maggette finished with 15 points off the bench...Shaun Livingston had 19 points and Tim Thomas 14 for the Clippers...Brendan Haywood finished with 13 points and 12 boards for the Wizards...LA committed 20 turnovers.