Antawn

Jamison

The 6-4 Wizards rank second in the NBA in scoring at 100.7 points per game. Antwan Jamison (24.1), Gilbert Arenas (19.9), Larry Hughes (18.4) and Jarvis Hayes (13.1) all average double-digit scoring, and the team has had five players score 10 or more in the same game five times.

Neither injury is considered serious, and the players are expected to return to practice today.

Jamison finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes. He is expected to play in Game 5 against the Kings.

Jamison expected to be fine to play tonight.

No word yet on what other players may be involved. It’s assumed that the Mavs will try to use the pick in their pursuit of the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal.

“Honest, deep down inside, I don’t want to go anywhere,” said Jamison. The Cavs will likely shop his expiring contract, but it’s unclear if the team is interested in taking back the amount of necessary salary in order to facilitate a deal. He could play out the rest of the season with Cleveland and the team could sign-and-trade him during the offseason. Jamison is averaging 17.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.4 treys this season, but has been on fire in February with averages of 22.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.5 treys.

The Cavs are just two games out of the final playoff spot in the East and Jamison continues to play at an extremely high level. A buyout wouldn’t make much sense. They’ll simply let his $15 million contract expire at the end of the season and move on. Jamison is averaging 23.5 points and playing 34.4 minutes per night over his last eight games.

Jamison has been struggling so tonight’s line is a welcome sight. And with five games next week and four the next, he could play a big role for owners during the fantasy playoffs.

The Cavaliers blew a 17-point lead in this one, while Jamison continues to play well despite trade rumors. We’d like to think his minutes will take a hit once Anderson Varejao is back, as the Cavs simply need to get rookie Tristan Thompson (11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 blocks, 29 minutes) all the minutes he can handle going forward. This is the time to sell high on Jamison.

To be fair, the Cavs were without Kyrie Irving (flu) tonight, but coach Byron Scott found the major lack of effort to be very concerning. He even suggested that changes are in the works for both the starting lineup and rotations. Once healthy, Irving will undoubtedly continue to get as much playing time as he can handle, but he, along with Jamison, are probably the only safe bets in Cleveland right now. It remains to be seen how this situation will play out, but guys like Manny Harris (nine points tonight) and Tristan Thompson are worth keeping an eye on.