Wizards surge past Kings

Jamison had 33 points, 13 rebounds and four steals, while Arenas tallied 30 points, eight boards and seven assists. Butler added 23 points and 10 rebounds, as Washington won for the seventh time in its last nine games. The Wizards have won four of their last five on the road after dropping their first eight away games of the year.

Kevin Martin posted a career-best 40 points for the Kings, who have lost three in a row and nine of their last 11 contests.

John Salmons replaced an ailing Ron Artest in the Sacramento lineup and had 23 points in a losing cause. Artest missed the game because of sore knees.

Down by six points at the half, the Wizards took the game over by outscoring the Kings, 44-24, in the third.

Eight straight points gave Washington the lead. Jamison’s three finished the flurry for a 71-66 score with 7:46 left in the third. Another shot from beyond the arc from Jamison moved the margin to 92-77 and the Wizards held a 97-83 cushion going into the fourth.

The Kings couldn’t get closer than six the rest of the way.

Brendan Haywood totaled 12 points and 14 rebounds for Washington.

Brad Miller had 19 points and nine boards for Sacramento.

The Wizards scored the game’s first five points, but the Kings used a 12-0 run later in the period to take the lead. Two consecutive layups by Salmons capped the burst, making the score 24-15. Sacramento led 31-24 going into the second.

Washington fell behind by as many as 10 in the next quarter, the last time at 56-46 following a Mike Bibby jumper with 1:46 left in the period. Sacramento was still on top 59-53 at the break.

Game Notes

Washington has won three straight meetings. The Wizards have a rare two-game winning streak at Sacramento, as they snapped a seven-game series road skid last March 28...DeShawn Stevenson had 11 points and Antonio Daniels 10 for the Wizards...Corliss Willamson (17) and Bibby (11) were the other double figure scorers for the Kings.