Gilbert Arenas didn't work out yesterday but plans to be in the lineup tomorrow night when the Washington Wizards kick off a five-game road trip against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Arenas, a Los Angeles native who always seems to play with a little extra fire when he faces the Lakers, missed Tuesday's 94-74 home victory over the New Jersey Nets with back soreness. The back has bothered him since early last week, and that was before he took a hard fall Friday night against the Chicago Bulls.

Arenas said he considered sitting out Sunday's game at Miami but felt the game was too important to miss. Arenas played 47 minutes in the overtime loss to the Heat and decided during the shoot-around Tuesday morning that he needed some rest.

"I think some of it is from overuse," said Arenas, who ranked fourth in the league in minutes played per game (41.4) heading into last night's games. "I don't take a break during the season. I'm still working out twice a day so [the back] doesn't get a lot of time to rest. I didn't want to take this injury into the whole West Coast trip, so I thought it would be good to take a few days to get my strength back."