Washington Wizards Team Report - January 18

(Basketball News) - Larry Hughes scored a game-high 27 points and Jarvis Hayes added 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 99-84 win over the Seattle SuperSonics on Saturday at the MCI Center.

Kwame Brown had 18 points and six rebounds for the Wizards, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

The game was knotted at 45-45 after two periods of play, but Washington opened the third quarter with a 22-8 run. A layup by Juan Dixon capped the surge and gave the Wizards a 67-53 lead with 5:09 left in the third.

Washington outscored Seattle by a 30-18 margin in the third to take a 75-63 advantage into the final stanza.

The Wizards kept the Sonics at arm’s length the rest of the way, as the closest Seattle came was at 82-74 on a dunk by Jerome James with 7:05 to play.

Washington’s biggest lead of the game came when Torraye Braggs hit a layup to make it a 99-81 contest with 15 seconds remaining.

Dixon scored 12 points in 17 minutes off the bench and Etan Thomas added 10 points and seven rebounds in reserve action for the Wizards, who shot 51 percent (41-of-80) from the floor and went 15-of-22 from the free throw line. Washington went just 2-of-10 from three-point range.

"We’ve been emphasizing getting (inside scoring) and we haven’t done it with our (big men) so much," said Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan. "But you can also score in the paint by moving the ball and driving the seams.

"We pretty much did that. We took advantage of getting out on the break."

The Wizards are off until Monday when they host the Chicago Bulls.