Magic 100, Wizards 99
Dwight Howard’s basket with 4.3 seconds left capped a season-best 32-point performance and lifted the Orlando Magic to a 100-99 victory over the host Washington Wizards on Saturday.
Jameer Nelson’s close-range floater was short and Howard grabbed the ball at the rim and put it in the basket as Orlando improved to 12-4.
Washington’s Gilbert Arenas had a chance to win the game at the buzzer but his driving runner was off the mark.
Arenas scored a season-high 31 points for the Wizards (5-10), who played without injured rookie point guard John Wall. Arenas scored the last nine Washington points. He put the Wizards up 99-98 on a basket with 13.2 seconds remaining.
Quentin Richardson scored 20 points and made four 3-pointers for Orlando. Howard grabbed 11 rebounds.
Nick Young added 21 points for Washington and Andray Blatche had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The Magic led by 12 points at halftime but the Wizards cut the lead to two points entering the final quarter.
Wall missed the contest with a bruised right knee suffered earlier in the week.