WASHINGTON — Raja Bell scored 19 points, and Boris Diaw added 18 to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 92-89 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.,
After trailing most of the game, the Bobcats took the lead for good on Shannon Brown’s 3-pointer with 2:42 left, and held off Washington’s late charge.
Down 90-89 with 15 seconds left, the Wizards had a chance for the win. Mike James drove the lane but missed the layup, and Andray Blatche missed a tip-in. But the Wizards were given a reprieve when the ball went out of bounds off the Bobcats.
Washington took its second chance and once again squandered it, with Nick Young missing a jumper from the top of the key.
Charlotte snapped a two-game losing streak to improved to 14-24, while Washington lost its fourth straight to drop to an Eastern Conference-worst 7-29.
The Wizards controlled the game throughout the first half and had a 13-point lead late in the third quarter, but once again fell short in a season that has already been marked by many disappointments.
Caron Butler scored 19 points for Washington, and Blatche had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Washington took the lead early in the first quarter and kept adding on early. The Wizards led by 13, 68-55, with 4½ minutes left in the third quarter. Charlotte closed the third quarter with a 14-2 run, and took the lead 30 seconds into the fourth quarter — 71-70 — on Juwan Howard’s jumper.
Diaw scored eight of his points in the fourth quarter.
The Wizards were given a first-half boost by rookie center JaVale McGee, who had spent the past four games on the bench. McGee had two crowd-pleasing dunks in the second quarter as well as a big blocked shot, and led the team with nine first-half points, but did not score after halftime.
Notes: Bobcats G D.J. Augustin left the game with an abdominal
strain. G Raymond Felton had to be helped off the court by teammates after spraining his right ankle early in the third quarter, but returned a few minutes later. He finished with 11 assists. … Wizards F Antawn Jamison came out of the game with a minute left in the first half and walked directly to the locker room. He was back on the floor when the second half started.
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