Wizards top Knicks to move up in East
NEW YORK -- The Washington Wizards moved into a tie for third place in the Eastern Conference with a 106-103 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
Washington (48-31), picked up a half-game on Toronto, which was off Thursday. Each team has three games left in the regular season.
The Knicks (30-49) host Toronto on Sunday. The Wizards host Miami on Saturday.
Bradley Beal topped Washington with 25 points. John Wall contributed 24 points and eight assists and Marcin Gortat recorded 16 points.
New York received 23 points from Carmelo Anthony, 16 from Justin Holiday and 13 from Willy Hernangomez. Kristaps Porzingis was out with a sore lower back.
A 9-0 run by the Knicks tied it at 97-97 with 2:50 to play. Anthony tied it again at 101-101 with a jumper, but Beal scored Washington's last five points on a 3-pointer that made it 104-101 and two free throws.
Anthony's 3-pointer to tie it with 2.9 seconds left was long off the rim.
The Knicks were 9-of-22 in the third quarter, but trailed 82-75.
A traditional three-point play from Gorat moved the Wizards lead to 71-56 with 7:05 left in the third.
A layup from Hernangomez whittled the Wizards lead to 51-48 with 2:17 left in the second, but Washington responded with an 8-3 run to take a 59-51 edge at the break.
Wall was perfect in the first quarter, going 4 for 4 and 2 for 2 from the line, helping the Wizards to a 33-27 lead.
NOTES: Washington became the 13th team since 1983-84 to make the playoffs after starting a season 2-8 or worse. ... Wizards G John Wall is the only player to average at least 20.0 pts, 10.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals. ... Washington's comeback win over Charlotte on Tuesday after being down 17 points, is the most points it has overcome in the last 20 seasons. ... The Knicks haven't won two straight games since Dec. 20-22. ... Knicks G Derrick Rose had surgery on Wednesday to repair his torn meniscus. He is expected to resume basketball activities in three to six weeks.