Antonio Daniels, who continually has improved the past two months, was at his best yesterday, scoring a season-high 21 points on his 31st birthday in a 113-104 victory over the Chicago Bulls at Verizon Center.
   
"I think this is the time of year for a veteran to step up -- guys who have been in the playoffs like he has, guys who are dedicated," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said after his team improved to 34-31. "So he's focused in more, and he knows that each shot means a whole lot now. It's that time of the year for those types of guys."
   
Daniels, who signed a five-year, $30 million deal with the Wizards over the summer, looked awful for about the first two months of the season.
   
But after the Wizards and Chucky Atkins agreed on a buyout Jan. 18, Daniels found his comfort zone. This month he has been at this best, averaging 14.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game.
   
"It takes a while to find your niche," Daniels said. "You're pressing. You're trying to live up to this, you're trying to live up to that. You need to just calm down and be yourself, and it took a while for me to just be myself. It's a different situation -- new coaching staff, new team, new organization, new system. Once you find a way to blend yourself in without trying to do too much, everything kind of falls into place.
   
"Some nights it's scoring, some nights it's not," Daniels said. "Some nights it's defending. If everybody falls in and plays their role to the best of their abilities, we don't worry about who gets credit and we're a hard team to beat."

Washington Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Billy Thomas for the remainder of the season.

Thomas, who just completed his second 10-day contract with the Wizards, appeared in one game with Washington this season, on March 11 against the Detroit Pistons.

The Wizards committed 19 turnovers on Wednesday and 8 in the 4th quarter, which causes great concern for Eddie Jordan.

"I thought we didn't take care of the ball starting with about two [minutes] 30 [seconds] to go," Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said.

"We got disorganized with our press offense and we threw the ball away. And then we turned the ball over in the half-court offense twice. Some of it's guys trying to make plays off the dribble and then sometimes it's the nature of the game. We have to stay organized and have quality possessions down the stretch."

Jared Jeffries returned to the starting lineup after missing three games with a left calf strain.

The Wizards defeated the Bobcats 119-114.

Jared Jeffries will be back in the starting lineup for the Washington Wizards if his sore left calf doesn't act up during this morning's shoot-around or during warmups before tonight's game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

The injury forced Jeffries to miss the last three games, but the wiry guard-forward practiced yesterday and indicated to Coach Eddie Jordan that he's ready to go.

Washington Wizards President of Basketball Operations Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Billy Thomas to a second 10-day contract.  

Thomas has been on the inactive list for the past six games since signing his initial 10-day contract with Washington on February 24.