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Jamison lifts Wizards past Bobcats

Feb 24, 2008 - 5:18 AM By Tim Hipps PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - Antawn Jamison had 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Washington Wizards to a 110-95 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night.

With the victory, Washington improved to 12-3 all-time against Charlotte and ended its two-game losing streak. The Bobcats always seem to give the Wizards fits but Washington is now 6-1 all-time vs. Charlotte at home.

DeShawn Stevenson, who added 20 points, made a 3-pointer that gave the Wizards a 101-87 lead with 3:48 remaining and the Bobcats could not mount a comeback. Stevenson shot 4-of-7 from the arc and posted his fourth game this season of 20 or more points.

Brendan Haywood added 15 points, seven rebounds, a career-high five assists and three blocks for the Wizards, who ended a four-game losing streak at Verizon Center before their 15th sellout crowd of 20,173 this season.

The Wizards, who had a season-low seven turnovers, improved to 7-2 when all five starters score in double-figures

"That was big for us because our last three games, even before the All-Star break, have come down to one shot, against the Clippers a last-second shot, against New York a last-second shot and then last night a last-second shot," said Antonio Daniels, who scored 10 points for the Wizards. "We're very close. We're playing hard. But we're just not doing the necessary things to win basketball games. So tonight it was good to kind of see us put it all together."

Reserves Oleksiy Pecherov and Roger Mason Jr. made back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Wizards an 84-71 lead early in the fourth quarter. Pecherov matched his career-high with nine points and grabbed a career-high six rebounds.

"It really felt sweet to play that way for 48 minutes and to have our bench really energize us," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "We played not as well as we could have, but we played very, very well."

The Bobcats led, 52-51, at halftime and Jason Richardson, who led Charlotte with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting, made a reverse layup that gave the Bobcats a 62-59 lead with 8:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte, and Jeff McInnis added 12 points.

The Wizards outscored the Bobcats, 64-34, in the paint and won the battle of the boards, 46-36.

"They had 22 offensive rebounds tonight," Richardson said. "It was a small lineup, but if we play small ball, we've got to learn how to rebound the ball."

The Bobcats played without leading scorer Gerald Wallace, who suffered his fourth concussion in four seasons during a loss to Sacramento on Friday night. Wallace is expected to be out for at least two weeks.

"We miss him," Bobcats coach Sam Vincent said. "When we don't have another go-to guy, it puts a lot of pressure on us offensively. Jason hit some big shots, but we're on one hub now. That puts pressure on the offense and a little bit more pressure on the defense. We're relying on Jared Dudley, who's a rookie, to come out and make big plays. We really don't like to be in that position."

Wallace was knocked unconscious by an inadvertent elbow to the face by the Kings' Mikki Moore, and was taken to the hospital. A team official said Wallace was suffering some amnesia, but tests showed no fractures and no internal bleeding.

"Gerald takes some pretty nasty falls," Richardson said. "You expect him to lay there a minute or two, then get up. But when they rolled him over and you saw his eyes were blinking and stuff like that, you could tell he was knocked out. It was a scary moment for all of us. We've never seen him like that, so I'm glad everything's all right with him.

"One through 12, we've got to bring energy because that's one thing he did every night - night in and night out, no matter what - if he wasn't scoring he was still out there diving on the floor for loose balls, blocking shots and doing whatever it takes to win games. So these next three weeks without having Gerald, we've all got to bring it."

The Wizards, who have played all but eight games without three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas and their last eight straight without two-time All-Star Caron Butler, were relieved to face another team without its leading scorer.

"For us to be two guys down, it's good to play another team that's not at full strength," Daniels said. "The thing about it is those are games you're supposed to get, so it's good to get that one today."