NBA Game Summary - Boston at Washington

Washington, DC (Basketball News) - Gilbert Arenas scored 25 of his 32 points in the second half, as the Washington Wizards pulled out a 112-102 victory over the Boston Celtics at the MCI Center.

Arenas shot 6-of-9 from three-point range and added five steals. Larry Hughes contributed 31 points on 4-of-6 shooting from distance, as the Wizards’ starting backcourt outscored that of the Celtics, 63-27.

"Our guards made shots in a timely fashion," Washington coach Eddie Jordan said. "I thought that we were a lot more disciplined. We were under control and we had more poise tonight."

Jared Jeffries, who had 11 points, and Etan Thomas, who had 10 with six rebounds before fouling out, were the only other players to score in double digits for Washington, which snapped a five-game losing streak.

Marcus Banks notched a career-high 24 points and collected six steals for the Celtics, who lost for the second time in three games. Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis each scored 17 for Boston, with Pierce chipping in with 13 assists and seven rebounds.

"It is disappointing," Pierce said. "Their guards really took over the game. They got into the lane and made things happen."

Washington faced an 83-82 deficit in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but used an 8-0 burst to grab a 90-83 advantage with nine minutes to play.

Boston sliced the lead to one at 91-90 on a Banks reverse layup with less than seven minutes to play, but the Wizards scored the next five points to move ahead 96-90 with just over five minutes remaining.

The Celtics would get no closer than four points the rest of the way, as Arenas hit a three-pointer with just under four minutes to go to make it a 101-94 game and give the Wizards some breathing room.

"We hit shots and won the game," Arenas said. "We played a little more defense at the end."

Washington’s first double digit lead came with 1:25 to go, when Arenas converted a four-point play to make it 109-99 and remove any doubt in the outcome.

Boston jumped out to an early 13-4 lead on a layup by Blount 3:14 into the contest. The Wizards were able to creep within two points at 21-19 on a pair of free throws by Arenas with 2:10 left in the stanza, and tied things at 26 all on a Brendan Haywood dunk with 16 seconds to go.

The Celtics grabbed the second quarter edge on a Davis layup one minute in, and wouldn’t relinquish it for the rest of the stanza. Marcus Banks hit a reverse layup with nine minutes left in the half to give Boston a five-point lead at 36-31.

With 2:20 to go in the half, Pierce staked the Celtics to an 11-point lead with a pair of free throws that made it 54-43, but Washington finished strong to get within 58-53 at the half.

Hughes had 15 points at the break to lead all scorers, while Banks had 11 points and Davis, Pierce and Welsch each had 10 for the Celtics.

"We got stops and we scored at the other end," Hughes said. "When myself and Gilbert are making shots, it gets everyone else involved and allows everything to open up for us."

Just under four minutes into the second half, Arenas drilled a three-pointer to give Washington its first lead since early in the second quarter at 63-62.

The teams went on the see-saw for the remainder of the third quarter, and Hughes hit two foul shots with five seconds left to sent the Wizards into the final stanza up 82-80.