His name is Earl Boykins

He’s 5′5″ tall and in the fourth quarter lately he’s been the biggest man on the floor for the Washington Wizards. Once upon a time it was Gilbert Arenas who closed games for Washington, knocking down free throw after free throw or burying a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to seal a dramatic victory. Times have changed.

When the Washington Wizards emerged from a timeout in need of a game-winning play with the score knotted at 102-102 and 10.5 seconds left, Gilbert Arenas walked onto the floor, rubbing his hands together. A three-time All-Star, Arenas noticed the Milwaukee Bucks players looking at him and talking to each other to ensure they had accounted for him.

Arenas just laughed to himself.

“I was sitting there thinking, ‘Y’all worried about me, but y’all ’bout to be in for a rude awakening. This is Earl’s show,’ ” Arenas chuckled later.

Sure enough, Earl Boykins – the 5-foot-5 backup who had put his team on his diminutive shoulders down the stretch – was in charge. Boykins drove, pulled up for a jumper and drew a foul with a second left. He proceeded to make both foul shots for a 104-102 victory Wednesday night.

It wasn’t the first time Boykins saved the day. Since he suited up for the Wizards for the first time nine games ago, Washington has won five times. Four of those victories came after Boykins took charge in the fourth quarter, either with his scoring or his ball-management skills.

When Boykins stepped to the line with 17 seconds left for the free throws that gave the Wizards a 102-99 lead, it was no wonder the home crowd started chanting “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

“I’m not into all that, honestly,” the soft-spoken 33-year-old said with a smile. “I’m just happy to get a win.”

Boykins’ coach heard the chants – and pointed them out during his postgame news conference.

“The fans are chanting MVP for Earl,” Flip Saunders chuckled. “He’s been like that. If you look at the games we’ve won, he’s finished games for us.”

With Arenas still working to find his old game and not getting the calls from officials he once did and Randy Foye struggling on the comeback from an ankle injury, Boykins — originally signed 3 weeks ago as temporary insurance for a team with only one healthy point guard — has stepped to the front during crunch time. Boykins is averaging 6.8 points in the 4th quarter, 3rd in the entire NBA behind only Brandon Jennings [7.1] and Dwyane Wade [6.9]. In the last 10 minutes of a 104-102 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks, Boykins scored 11 points, including the final two from the free throw line to seal the game.

The Wizards are 5-4 since signing Boykins and, winners of 4 of their last 5, the team seems seems to have brought and end to the disastrous and disappointing opening to their NBA season. Boykins is a big reason why.

Why is all this happening? Well, Boykins has played well before, but perhaps he’s never had such a big impact on a team so quickly. Arenas and Antawn Jamison played with Boykins for one season in Golden State and say they are not surprised by his productivity. Boykins put up some pretty good numbers with Denver, but he’s never been really what you want in a starting guard. Coming off the bench, though, Boykins has found his role.

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His name is Earl