Washington Wizards guard Jarvis Hayes, who has missed the last 22 games with a fractured right patella, went through shooting drills for about an hour yesterday. It was one of the longest periods of on-court activity Hayes has engaged in since hurting the knee early in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 16.

"It's getting there," said Hayes, who missed the second half of last season after injuring the same knee.

Hayes, who played in 21 games with 13 starts, remains the team's fourth-leading scorer at 9.3 points per game. The team has no date for his possible return.

"He's progressing," Coach Eddie Jordan said. "There's going to be a telling point soon where we'll rev it up a little bit and say, 'Let's see if it's ready.' We need to see how it responds the next day and whether there is an aftereffect."