Washington, DC--

When Gilbert Arenas stepped on the floor of the home opener in an outft that would make a championship boxer jealous, his goal was to deliver a knockout punch that he did not not deliver in Cleveland in the season opener. Gilbert's Damage, 44 points and the victim the Boston Celtics, 124-117.

"I found my rhythm tonight," Arenas said. "I think I was just anxious that first game and I wanted to get back out there. I was able to make some good plays as a floor leader that first game and tonight I was back to my old self, scoring, distributing the ball, just playing up-tempo."

Again the Wizards showed a strong balance from the other starters that included 29 points, eight rebounds by Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler added a nice 20 points, 5 steals, 4 assists. This was the first time that the combination looked comfortable distributing the ball and finding the open man when they needed to late in the game.

The Celtics rallied to pull within five in the fourth quarter on Sebastian Telfair's 3-pointer with 1:06 to play, but that was Boston's last field goal. Butler answered with a fadeaway in the paint, and the Wizards made three free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

"I'm disappointed we gave up layups again and we got outrebounded again,'' Washington coach Eddie Jordan said. "We've got a lot of things to work on, but a win is a win.''

The Wizards all around looked like a better team then they did in the season opener in Cleveland. The execution was much better, but they still need to find a way to put teams away in the fourth quater. They shot a very respectable 52 percent from the field, but still need to be able to control players like Wally Sczerbiak, who after getting cut near his right eye, returned in the second with stitches and a bandage and finished with 33 points to lead the Celtics. Not exactly what Eddie Jordan had in mind when he thought their scorer had left for the game.

The Wizards will have a day off tomorrow and then they travel to face a hot Orlando Magic team on Tuesday night before they head back to Verizon Center to face the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night.