Final
Nene powers Wizards past Magic
Apr 12, 2014 - 5:42 AM Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Nene scored a team-high 17 points and John Wall finished with 10 points and 12 assists to lead the Washington Wizards to a 96-86 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday.Bradley Beal finished with 16 points while Trevor Booker and Marcin Gortat added 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Wizards, who moved one game ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
"It's great to win a game like this. I don't think anybody shot the ball well. I think we shot like 10 percent from the 3-point line so it was definitely a great defensive effort by us," Beal said. "They got up early again on us, but I think we did a great job of sticking with it defensively and that's what won the game."
The Bobcats fell to the Boston Celtics on Friday. Both Washington and Charlotte have three games remaining.
Arron Afflalo scored a game-high 19 points, Kyle O'Quinn added 13 points and nine rebounds and Jameer Nelson finished with 12 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for the Magic, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
"The offense got stagnant and we started to stand around too much on the offensive end," said Nelson. "They turned up the pressure a little bit and it got physical."
The Magic raced out to a 29-17 lead after 12 minutes, but were outscored in each quarter after that.
The Wizards used a 17-5 run to tie the game midway through the second frame. Otto Porter's layup with 4:50 remaining in the first half had Washington in front, 38-36, but Orlando managed to take a 51-45 edge into the break.
The Wizards briefly led 60-57 following a Wall jumper with 6:42 left in the third, but just over three minutes later, Nelson got a reverse layup to fall. Orlando carried a 70-67 advantage into the final frame.
A pair of Beal free throws early in the fourth gave Washington the lead and the visitors never looked back. Al Harrington's layup with 6:59 left made it, 79-75, but Doron Lamb drained a 3-pointer to get the Magic back within a point moments later.
A 9-0 run later in the quarter put the game away for Washington, which is returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
Game Notes
The Wizards scored 23 points off 18 Orlando turnovers ... Washington will host Milwaukee and Miami before closing the season in Boston ... Lamb finished with 11 points off the bench.
Apr 11 9:27 PM- WASHINGTON: 67
ORLANDO: 70
End of 3rd
Apr 11 8:51 PM - WASHINGTON: 45
ORLANDO: 51
Halftime
Apr 11 8:08 PM - WASHINGTON: 17
ORLANDO: 29
End of 1st
Apr 11 7:33 PM - WASHINGTON: 0
ORLANDO: 0
1st Quarter - 11:42
Apr 11 7:11 PM
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