WASHINGTON (AP) Who is that wearing the No. 5 jersey for the Washington Wizards?

You know, the big man? The one moving so confidently through the lane, grabbing rebounds, dunking over defenders?

Can that really be Kwame Brown? For so long, he seemed destined to be one of the biggest busts in NBA history, a No. 1 overall draft pick who never panned out.

Maybe it's too early for a coming-out party, but suddenly Brown's got game. He scored his career high twice this month, including 25 points with nine rebounds in the Washington Wizards' 107-96 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

``I'm a lot more comfortable,'' Brown said. ``Not as jittery. Taking my shots when I have it.''

Over his past 12 games, Brown is averaging 13.8 points and 8.7 rebounds and has worked his way back into the starting lineup. He has led his team in scoring four times this season.

And the Wizards, parked near the bottom of the standings all season, have won three of four games.

Perhaps he isn't quite putting up All-Star numbers yet, but consider this: Brown led the Wizards in scoring a grand total of just once in his first two seasons _ it happened to be Michael Jordan's final game _ and he mostly languished on the bench while averaging 6.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Why the sudden turnaround for the first player to go No. 1 overall in the NBA draft straight out of high school? There are a variety of reasons:

_Brown is hanging around the low post. He's been playing center when the Wizards go to a smaller lineup, but he's also staying in the paint more when at power forward.

``I love it. It has a lot to do with it,'' Brown said. ``On the wing, I'm not a consistent shooter _ 15, 20 feet away from the basket. The more comfortable I feel in the paint, the better team we are.''

_Coach Eddie Jordan is giving Brown a chance. Michael Jordan and former coach Doug Collins often got fed up with Brown's teenage mind-set and would banish him to the bench for long stretches. Collins later admitted he didn't do a good job of handling such a young player. Brown's telling admission that he's ``not as jittery'' says it all.

``I'm not afraid to make mistakes,'' Brown said. ``I can make a mistake, and Coach will allow me to make up for it with my play. I won't find myself on the bench as a result.''

_The Wizards are having to make do without injured guards Jerry Stackhouse and Gilbert Arenas, the two players they thought would lead them this season. Someone has to fill the void.

``We don't have that one superstar,'' Brown said. ``With Jerry out and Gilbert out, those are the guys who can put up big numbers.''

_Brown is growing up. He'll be 22 in March and has adjusted to the NBA lifestyle. This is his third season, the year players drafted straight from high school often make the big jump. Brown's early struggles were magnified more than others' because he was the first taken at No. 1.

Brown realizes such comparisons are made, so it's probably no coincidence that he gets fired up to play Indiana. The Pacers feature two players who also skipped college _ Jermaine O'Neal and Al Harrington _ and Brown got the best in his matchup with O'Neal.

``You want to play as hard as you can against players like him, because that can make your career,'' Brown said. ``You play hard against him, the league talks, the refs talk. That's how you get their respect.''

Brown's game is far from complete. He gets a rap for having bad hands, although notably he had no turnovers Saturday. His defensive discipline, a major complaint under Collins, is improving.

And he's nowhere close to being an absolute go-to, take-over-the-game player, someone who can be counted on to lift a team when it's slumping. He plays well when the players around him play well, and his 0-for-2 game with three points against Boston on Friday showed that teams can shut him down if they pay enough attention inside.

``Let's see some consistency,'' Eddie Jordan said after the victory over Indiana. ``We're not going to gloat. We love what happened tonight. We're not going to say he's arrived, because it's all about consistency.''