Washington Wizards Team Report - February 21

(Basketball News) - The Washington Wizards fell to the Indiana Pacers, 96-87, on Friday at the MCI Center.

Gilbert Arenas poured in a game-high 27 points for the Wizards, who have dropped four straight contests. Kwame Brown netted 17 points with eight rebounds and Jerry Stackhouse added 15 points and hauled in eight boards in the loss.

Juan Dixon scored eight points and had a career-high eight steals in the loss.

The Wizards trailed by 11 at halftime, but came storming back in the third quarter as they began the period on a 10-0 burst. Stackhouse, who keyed the run with six points, helped close the margin to 50-49.

Indiana rebounded from the early barrage and increased its advantage to 59-51 midway through the stanza. However, the Wizards used a 16-3 run, highlighted by nine points from Arenas, to claim a 67-62 lead. Washington held a 71-68 edge after 36 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Arenas’ three-pointer with 10:15 remaining staked the Wizards to a 77-69 lead, but Indiana shrunk the deficit to 81-77 on Reggie Miller’s three-pointer midway through the period.

The Pacers climbed within two moments later and grabbed an 86-85 advantage lead on Jamaal Tinsley’s basket with two minutes left. After Arenas put Washington ahead by one, Jermaine O’Neal scored with just over two minutes left, which ignited a game-clinching 10-0 run, to give Indiana an 88-87 advantage.

Tinsley’s three with 1:05 left made it 91-87 and he added another three- pointer off the glass with 37.4 seconds remaining. Miller then capped the scoring with two free throws.

Washington is off until Sunday when it hosts the Milwaukee Bucks.