Not even a career-high 47 points by Gilbert Arenas, who also had eight assists and seven rebounds, could end Miami's run of domination over the Wizards, which has included 10 consecutive regular season wins and last spring's 4-0 sweep in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Miami rode the one-two punch of Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade (28 and 34 points, respectively), received an overdue contribution from Antoine Walker off the bench (21 points, 13 rebounds) and extended its winning streak over Washington to 14 games with a 128-113 victory.

"You always want to do well and win the game and I tried to carry us early, but we just couldn't get over the hump," said Arenas. "When you've got two guys who just dominate the inside like Shaq and Wade -- they did a great job. And then you have Antoine Walker coming off the bench, it's tough."

Washington Wizards guard Jarvis Hayes said he will be out at least six more weeks with a fractured right kneecap. After that, Hayes will have the knee re-examined and his status for the remainder of the season could be determined.

The third-year guard, who was selected by the Wizards with the 10th pick of the 2003 draft, injured the knee Dec. 16 against the Lakers in Los Angeles. He was walking without a limp and appeared to be in good spirits yesterday after the Wizards practiced at MCI Center.

Hayes sought a second opinion after his knee was originally examined by team doctors and has, for the time being, elected not to undergo surgery. Hayes missed the second half of last season and the Wizards' playoff run with a similar injury to the same knee. But last season's injury, according to Hayes, was worse than this one.

"Right now, I can walk around and it doesn't hurt as much," Hayes said. "Last year, I was in a cast and I couldn't move at all. It's not as bad this time. Hopefully, after a few more weeks, we'll have a better idea of how it is."

The city's least favorite son returned to MCI Center last night, and Kwame Brown expected more of Washington.

Brown, the former No. 1 pick for the Washington Wizards who was practically booed out of town after his fourth less-than-inspiring season, said he had expected "the Juwan Howard treatment" -- as in the deafening sound of boos once reserved for Howard, who was unable to live up to lofty expectations after signing a $100 million contract and, ironically, also wore the No. 5 for Washington.

Instead, Brown said the reception paled in comparison to what he had seen before. "That was weak!" Brown said after he was lustily booed for most of the 19 minutes 49 seconds he spent on the floor during the Los Angeles Lakers' 94-91 loss to the Wizards. "It was worse than that when I was here."

Whenever a team falls on hard times as the Washington Wizards have -- they're 4-13 over the last month -- people start wondering whether it's time to make a change here, a tweak there.

Indiana's volatile Ron Artest -- one day calling for a trade, the next telling his coaches and teammates he wants to remain with the Pacers -- is on the market, according to team president Donnie Walsh. And because of his relatively low salary, teams are going to come calling.

Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld certainly isn't satisfied with the Wizards in recent weeks -- they have lost all three of their games so far on this road trip.

The slide means Grunfeld at least has to be considering the tenacious defense Artest could bring to the buttery-soft Wizards. But point guard Gilbert Arenas, for one, wants no part of Artest.

"A guy like that can help any team," Arenas said when asked whether he would like to have Artest as a teammate. "But he's one of those guys where you're going to need someone like Phil Jackson who has dealt with a guy with that type of personality."

Washington Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld announced today that guard Jarvis Hayes has sustained a right patella fracture and will be out indefinitely.  

?It is unfortunate that Jarvis sustained this injury,? said Grunfeld.  ?I know he is very frustrated and we share in Jarvis? disappointment.?

Hayes was inactive for Sunday?s game in Portland and exited Friday?s game in Los Angeles after 4:58 in the first quarter.  He returned to Washington, DC on Saturday and was examined by team doctors on Monday afternoon.  Prior to Sunday night, Hayes had appeared in all 21 Wizards? games this season and had made 13 starts.

Gilbert Arenas didn't work out yesterday but plans to be in the lineup tomorrow night when the Washington Wizards kick off a five-game road trip against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Arenas, a Los Angeles native who always seems to play with a little extra fire when he faces the Lakers, missed Tuesday's 94-74 home victory over the New Jersey Nets with back soreness. The back has bothered him since early last week, and that was before he took a hard fall Friday night against the Chicago Bulls.

Arenas said he considered sitting out Sunday's game at Miami but felt the game was too important to miss. Arenas played 47 minutes in the overtime loss to the Heat and decided during the shoot-around Tuesday morning that he needed some rest.

"I think some of it is from overuse," said Arenas, who ranked fourth in the league in minutes played per game (41.4) heading into last night's games. "I don't take a break during the season. I'm still working out twice a day so [the back] doesn't get a lot of time to rest. I didn't want to take this injury into the whole West Coast trip, so I thought it would be good to take a few days to get my strength back."

Washington Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has assigned first-year forward Andray Blatche to the Roanoke Dazzle of the NBA D-League.  Roanoke, led by Head Coach Kent Davison, is the Wizards D-League affiliate.

?The D-League will give Andray an outstanding opportunity to get considerable playing time in live-game competition,? said Grunfeld.

According to a source close to Chucky Atkins as well as a team source, the Wizards have discussed a trade that would send Atkins and fourth-year forward Jared Jeffries to the New York Knicks in exchange for swingman Quentin Richardson.

Atkins played under Knicks Coach Larry Brown in Detroit and, according to several reports, the Knicks are in the market for a defensive-minded small forward.

Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas sat out Tuesday night's game against New Jersey with an ailing back.

Arenas bruised his lower back Saturday night when he crashed to the floor after his shot was blocked from behind by Darius Songaila in a loss to Chicago. Arenas had already been bothered by a sore back, and he said after the game that his "whole right side'' was aching.

Arenas played the next day, missing 19 of 24 shots in a loss at Miami. He did not practice Monday and did not take part in the shootaround Tuesday morning.

As Chucky Atkins made his way from the locker room to the bus on a snowy night in Indianapolis on Thursday after failing to appear in the Washington Wizards' 24-point rout by the Indiana Pacers, he began to voice his frustrations.

"All I know is that there's a week until the 15th, and that possible moves will be made. I just hope I'm one of them," said Atkins, acquired along with Caron Butler in the Kwame Brown trade last summer.

Atkins offered more of the same Sunday night after scoring a season-high 26 points in the Wizards' overtime loss to the Heat -- the team's 10th loss in 13 games. Asked whether he felt the same way, Atkins reiterated his position and added, "Go ahead and write it."

The Wizards, who could have traded Atkins at any time 90 days after he was acquired, did not comment on Atkins' comments yesterday, but president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld said he would discuss the matter with the player in private.

"When things don't go exactly the way you expect them to go, you always feel some degree of frustration," Grunfeld said. "But you have to remain professional, and Chucky has."