In the closing seconds of regulation on Friday night, the Wizards held a three-point lead over the Raptors. Anthony Parker's long pass lofted harmlessly in the air, was deflected and grabbed near the three-point line at the Washington end by forward Michael Ruffin.

Ruffin landed with the ball but then attempted to throw it high into the air toward the other end of the court. Instead, the ball slipped out of Ruffin's right hand and landed directly in the hands of Toronto guard Morris Peterson, who made a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.

"My natural reaction was to just throw the ball in the air and let time run out but I didn't get a good throw on it and there was a little more time than I thought," Ruffin said. "When I threw it, it kind of slipped off my palm. I didn't get a good grip on it."

The Raptors went on to win in the overtime session.

Gilbert Arenas was admonished by the NBA for making $10 bets with fans during the Wizards' loss at Portland on Wednesday.

"We spoke to Gilbert and explained the issue to him," NBA spokesman John Acunto said Sunday. "And he assured us he wouldn't do anything like this again."

Arenas made the bets as he bantered with fans throughout the Wizards' loss. He was booed during pregame introductions and whenever he touched the ball because he had promised to score 50 points against the Trail Blazers.

Injured forward Caron Butler, who did not make the trip with the Wizards and missed his third straight game with a left knee contusion, will fly out and join the team in the Bay Area on Thursday.

Coach Eddie Jordan did not rule out the possibility that Butler could play before the trip concludes Tuesday night at Utah. The Wizards play at Golden State on Friday night and at the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.

Gilbert Arenas tried to leave Seattle fans with a souvenir. And "Agent Zero" wasn't talking about yet another game-winning shot.

Arenas crossed over Earl Watson, drove with his left hand, then switched to his right and banked in a short-runner at the buzzer, capping a 42-point performance and giving the Washington Wizards a 108-106 victory over the SuperSonics on Wednesday night.

And as he jogged off the court, Arenas dropped his jersey at the free throw line, hoping a mob of fans would rush the floor trying to snatch the blue uniform.

"Maybe it would be better to do that at home," Arenas said.

Washington Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld announced that the team has signed forward Mike Hall for the remainder of the 2006-07 season.  Hall, who played his collegiate ball locally at The George Washington University, previously signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Washington on February 28 and March 10, 2007.  

Hall appeared in 29 games for the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Development League this season, where he posted averages of 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.  He was originally signed as a free agent by the Wizards on September 13, 2006 and appeared in five preseason games with Washington.

Portland Trail Blazer forward Zach Randolph has been granted bereavement leave effective immediately, the team announced Monday.

No details were given. "All we are saying is what was issued in the statement," Blazer spokeswoman Robyn Jamilosa said.

The team announcement said Randolph, their leading scorer, will rejoin the Trail Blazers at some point during the team's upcoming four-game road trip.

Wizards forward Caron Butler will miss a week to 10 days with a left knee injury and won't travel with the team on its March 20-26 road trip.

Jarvis Hayes probably will start in Butler's place, coach Eddie Jordan said after practice Friday.

Washington Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld announced that the team has signed forward Mike Hall to a second 10-day contract.

Hall appeared in 29 games for the Tulsa 66ers in the NBDL this season, where he posted averages of 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 49 percent from the field.  Hall was originally signed as a free agent by the Wizards on September 13, 2006 and appeared in five preseason games with Washington.  He re-signed with Washington to a 10-day contract on February 28, 2007, and began his second 10-day contract on March 10, 2007.

DeShawn Stevenson, guard for the Washington Wizards, will almost certainly opt out of his contract after this season and explore free agency, a source close to the player said Thursday.
   
"I want to come back," said Stevenson, who late last summer signed a one-year contract with a player option for a second. "We've got a good veteran team. We've got a coach who is a players' coach. I feel this is a good situation."

After the Warriors' wildly improbable 107-106 loss Sunday in Washington, Coach Don Nelson said he thought the league would be ``very disappointed'' with how the game ended: Gilbert Arenas being accorded three free throws -- one for a technical foul on Nelson -- after the final buzzer originally sounded.  He was wrong, the Mercury News is reporting.

``No, I'm not disappointed,'' Stu Jackson, NBA executive vice president of basketball operations, said Monday in a phone interview.

Instead, Jackson defended the work of referee Tony Brothers, who called Mickael Pietrus for a shooting foul as time expired. Nelson and the Warriors maintained Monday that because Arenas still had the ball in his hands when the final buzzer sounded, there was no way Pietrus could be charged with a shooting foul, since no legal shot was taken.

But Jackson said Nelson's interpretation was incorrect.

``Upon instant-replay review, it was determined contact (between Arenas and Pietrus) occurred with one-tenth of one second,'' Jackson said. Whether Arenas launched the ball before the buzzer is ``irrelevant.''

As for the technical doled out to Nelson by Derrick Stafford, the coach reiterated his denial of using an expletive while discussing the first call with Brothers, something a Washington reporter and multiple Wizards said took place.

``There was no swearing at all on the floor,'' Nelson said. ``What I did say was, `Tony, are you kidding me?' End of quote. No superlatives.''