Wizards & Celtics Win, Avery Gets Axe

Despite losing guard Gilbert Arenas for the remainder of their postseason, the Washington Wizards pulled off a thrilling 1 point win over Cleveland Wednesday night. Caron Butler was the hero as he scored on a layup with 3.9 to go. Lebron couldn't deliver on a layup on the other end, Wizards win 88-87. Without Arenas though, it will be tough for the Wizards against the Cavs. According to Associated Press, Arenas felt a pinched nerve in his knee and consulted with team doctors about not playing the rest of the season:

Arenas missed 66 games during the regular season and an MRI taken before Game 3 revealed that his surgically repaired left knee has a bone bruise and a pinched nerve.

"This nerve pinch, it just came out of the blue," Arenas said. "The swelling and the achiness — I can play through that — but the nerve pain where each step feels like you're hitting my funny bone, eventually, that was wearing and tearing. It's not going anywhere."

Read more about Arenas' injury here.

The Celtics and Hawks resumed Game 5 of their deadlocked 2-2 series. The game held in Boston, saw the Celts jump out to a double digit lead in the 2nd quarter. The Hawks went on a brief run in the 3rd, but it was short lived. The Celtics' defense which had been lacking in the past few contests showed up this time to hold off the Hawks. Celtics win 110-85 behind 22 from KG, 20 from Pierce and 19 from Ray Allen. Game 6 is Friday at 8PM in Atlanta, and the home team has been yet to lose in this series.

In other news, as the Mavs lose, they also lose their head coach. Avery Johnson was given the axe on Wednesday after another disappointing first round playoff loss for Dallas. The coach is usually the first place most GM's go after when teams don't live up to expectations. Avery may find himself in a new job somewhere soon as AP reports Chicago and New York as potential suitors. There's also plenty of potential coaches floating around who would love to take on the challenge of Dallas, which has plenty of all-star talent on its roster.

"This is something that needed to happen," Johnson said. "There's no animosity or bitterness. We all still really care about each other, but it was time to go in a different direction. ... We didn't win the championship, but if you look at the whole body of work that we put together over the last 3 1/2 years ... we'll put it up against anybody."

(Source: Associated Press)