Gilbert Arenas led Washington with 22 points. Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison each scored 15 points for the Wizards, who were playing for the second night in a row after a 106-102 win at Toronto on Tuesday. Washington coach Flip Saunders said the key for his team would be to start the game with energy to combat fatigue and the "late-arriving" Washington crowds.

Washington scored the opening points and led the entire first quarter, but went cold late in the second quarter. Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 13-2 over a five-minute span and took a 54-50 lead into halftime.

While Saunders was happy with his team's effort, Bucks coach Scott Skiles was definitely not.

"We lost this game before the ball even went up tonight," Skiles said. "We were not ready to play. Our defense was terrible. We had breakdown after breakdown after breakdown."

In an attempt to light a fire under his team, Skiles was given two quick technical fouls and ejected late in the first quarter for protesting a non-call on Warrick. After the first technical, Skiles charged on the court to continue his protest. He was immediately assessed the second technical and ejected from the game with 29.7 seconds left in the opening period.

NOTES: Ridnour returned after leaving Monday's game against Chicago with a sore hamstring. Skiles said Ridnour originally hurt the hamstring Nov. 27 against Oklahoma City. F Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (left foot sprain) missed his ninth straight game, and G Michael Redd (left knee soreness) did not make the trip. ... It was Saunders' 1,000th career game as a head coach. He has a 594-406 record. ... Before the game, Saunders said he's adjusting to the number of fans arriving after tipoff. "It's something we've got to try to change," he said. "As the team becomes better ... they'll want to come out and hopefully get out here sooner."