Gilbert Arenas has proven this season that he is one of the NBA’s most elite-players. Not only is he the best player on a division-leading team, but he has also become one of the league’s most un-containable scorers.

Part of what makes Arenas so dangerous is the fact that he is playing with a chip on his shoulder. He always has been. He wears the number-zero because that is the number of minutes detractors expected him to get after he signed-on to play ball at the University of Arizona. As if that wasn’t enough Arenas has played this year with more motivation than ever, because he has been on a mission to prove a few basketball’s best coach’s wrong. 

See, Arenas, the Washington Wizards’ most lethal sharp-shooter and a three-time NBA all-star, was cut from the Team-USA hoops squad that competed in the World Championships this summer. He was so irate about not being a member of the team that he vowed to take his agression out on the coach’s that were involved in the decision to cut him. The two NBA team’s coached by Team-USA assistants are the Phoenix Suns, and Portland Trail Blazers. So, naturally Arenas guaranteed 50-point games against both teams..

He originially made good on his declaration early this season in a remarkable-performance against the Phoenix Suns, way back on December-22nd. On that night, Arenas dropped 54-points in a 144-139 win over a Phoneix-team that is coached by team USA-assistant Mike D’Antoni. ’Agent-zero,’ as he has become known this year, made 21-of-37 field goals and knocked down all six of his free-throw attempts that night. He drained 6 three-pointers and even compiled four-assists in Washington’s most exhillirating win of the season.

His next 50-point effort was projected to take place on February 11th, when the Wizards hosted Nate McMillan (another Team USA-assistant) and the Portland Trail Blazers. Arenas didn’t follow-up on his gurantee though, as he was un-bale to score 50-points that night. Worse that that Arenas didn’t even score 10-points against the Trail Blazers. In his worst shooting-performance of the season, the one-time Golden State Warrior missed all eight of his three-point attempts and 12-of-his-15 field-goals. As a result Washington was able to muster just 73-points in a 21-point blowout-loss to a bad Portland team.

Arenas will get his second chance to make McMillan pay for cutting him this evening, when the Wizards travel to Portland for their second tilt with the last-place team in the Northwestern division. Another 50-point effort would close the mouths of all of the people who were critical of Arenas after he played so poorly the last time the two teams met. Another poor performance againt the team he once guaranteed that he would torch, would only fuel the fire of the ‘haters’ who have told Arenas to do less talking, and more balling.

It’s the Wizards vs. the Blazers, and Arenas vs. McMillan, live tonight from Portland. Don’t forget to check the box-score, because you know Arenas is going to have something up his sleeve.