Jamison returns, leads Washington past Hawks

Caron Butler was also back in the lineup and had four points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Wizards, who had dropped four in a row. Jamison had been out with a sprained left knee since January 30, and the Wizards were 4-8 without him. Butler missed Washington’s last three contests with lower back spasms, and the Wizards lost each of those games.

Gilbert Arenas finished with 19 points in the tight victory, while DeShawn Stevenson provided several of the key plays down the stretch and ended with nine points and five assists.

"I thought I was going to be a little more winded...I was kind of surprised, but not that surprised," Jamison said.

Josh Smith had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Marvin Williams donated 21 points for Atlanta, which has lost four straight and six of seven. Joe Johnson added 20 points and six assists in a losing effort.

"I thought our second half effort was good but we came up short at the end and didn’t execute down the stretch," Johnson said.

The Wizards held a 47-45 halftime lead behind 11 points from Brendan Haywood on 5-of-7 shooting.

That lead was pushed to 74-67 at the end of three quarters after Jarvis Hayes made a layup in the closing seconds.

Atlanta fought back in the fourth, though, and trimmed the deficit to 82-81 with 7:41 remaining after a Johnson turnaround jumper. Washington responded with an 8-0 burst, which Butler capped with a layup to make it 90-81 with 4:59 to play.

The Hawks again had an answer, storming back in the final minutes to briefly take the lead. Trailing by five with about three minutes remaining, Atlanta rattled off the next six points, including a Josh Childress slam with 45 ticks on the clock to put the road team ahead, 92-91.

Stevenson was fouled on the ensuing possession and made 1-of-2. Haywood grabbed the offensive board and missed his putback try, but Stevenson came up with the ball and earned a second trip to the line. Again he went 1-of-2 to give the Wizards a 93-92 edge.

Williams’ jumper on the other end was off the mark, but Atlanta retained possession. Tyronn Lue got the ball at the top of the arc as time was set to expire and he went up for the potential game-winner, but Stevenson blocked his shot to seal the win.

Game Notes

Haywood ended with 14 points and nine boards...Childress had 16 points and eight rebounds...These teams will meet again on March 7 and April 13 at Philips Arena...The Hawks have lost seven straight and 11 of their last 13 trips to D.C.