The Washington Wizards managed to beat the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 116-101 on Tuesday night despite missing their All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas.

The guy who stepped up for the job of replacing Arenas was Andray Blatche and he did a great job as he finished the game with a career-high 26 points. In fact, the Wizards had six players who finished in double figures to chip in for their fifth consecutive victory.

"Tonight was just a fantastic night for us. Andray was a benefactor of our offence and our movement. Guys were finding him." said Wizards coach Eddie Jordan.

The Wizards achieved season highs as they shot a 57-per-cent from the floor and accumulated 28 assists. They also managed to level their record to 5-5.

Blatche was in great shape and in 29 minutes of work connected on 12-of-14 field goals and grabbed eight rebounds to earn a career high since he entered the NBA when he was 21.

"It felt great," he said. "I wanted to come in and bring some energy and put some points on the board to make up for Gilbert."

DeShawn Stevenson and Antawn Jamison scored 19 points each for Washington.

Arenas missed his second game in a row due to soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.

After the first quarter the Wizards were up by two. From then on they went on a 73 per cent shooting from the field and outscored the 76ers 74-42 in the middle two sessions. 76ers’s coach Maurice Cheeks acknowledged that his team’s defense was “horrendous” and that allowed the Wizards “to get lay-up after lay-up."

For the 76ers(3-7), Rookie Louis Williams finished with 25 points. The Philadelphia 76ers have lost five of their last six games.