Top subplot to Carlos Boozer's career-high 41-point game in the Jazz's win over Washington on Monday may have been the battle between point guards Deron Williams and Gilbert Arenas.
The two were chatting all night.
"He wasn't talking bad," Williams said. "I mean, we were having a little conversation. No trash talk, really."
Arenas had reason to, having scored 51 points and having hit a game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer when the Wizards beat the Jazz back in January.
This time, though, Agent Zero finished with 32 points but missed 12-of-20 field-goal attempts and came up blank on a critical late-game free-throw. Arenas also fouled out with 12.8 seconds to go after he raced down the court for a potential 3-pointer, only to get caught extending his arm to push off on Williams.
"He's a guy that uses leverage sometimes to get (space)," Williams said. "I'm surprised they (officials) called it, but happy they called it."
Williams, meanwhile, finished with 16 points and a game-high 13 assists for his 25th double-double of the season.
He didn't come out ahead in the battle of stats, but teammate Paul Millsap suggested the alternative trumped that.
"I felt like Deron had something to prove — you know, try to come in and shut (Arenas) down," Millsap said. "He won the game, so that counts for a lot."
BY THE NUMBERS: Boozer, the Jazz's leading scorer and rebounder this season, went into Monday's game averaging 11.7 rebounds and 20.9 points per game on 56.3 percent shooting from the field.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, only six different players in NBA history have finished a season with across-the-board numbers at that level or better.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it four times; Wilt Chamberlain, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal did it three times each; and Artis Gilmore and Jeff Ruland both did it once.
MISC.: Jazz forward Matt Harpring's 13 rebounds off the bench were a season-high. ... Jazz backup shooting guard Gordan Giricek (bruised ribs) missed his fifth straight game. ... Ex-Jazz shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson had 21 points on 7-of-11 field shooting and former Jazz big man Michael Ruffin had one point for the Wizards. ... The Jazz finished the season 19-11 against Eastern Conference opponents, while the Wizards finished a five-game Western trip 1-4 with three straight losses. . . . Utah's 35 first-half points were just three shy of their season low, realized earlier this month at Cleveland. ... Retired Jazz point guard John Stockton turned 45 years old on Monday.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com