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Thursday, Dec. 16 7:00pm ET
Howard powers Wizards past Nets | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Wizards found a team even worse than they are. Juwan Howard scored 28 points and helped the Wizards rally from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the New Jersey Nets 108-104 Thursday night and move out of last place in the Atlantic Division. Washington (7-17) moved a half-game ahead of New Jersey (6-17) with the win. "It's great to get a win at home," Heard said. "I think the guys realized tonight if they played hard, like they did, the fans would get behind them and support us. They really played hard tonight." Howard scored Washington's first seven points of the game and hit two clutch baskets and two key free throws in the final three minutes before an MCI Center crowd of 11,355 that included President Clinton. . "We needed this win real bad," Howard said. "It's been tough, in the last games it's been tough. We deserved this because we worked hard." Howard made a jumper to give the Wizards the lead for good at 100-98. He added another jumper for a 102-98 lead with 1:14 remaining. Jahidi White then made a three-point play with 52.8 seconds left for a 105-99 Washington lead. New Jersey's Stephon Marbury got a three-point play to slice the lead to 105-104 with 15.6 seconds left. Rod Strickland made one of two free throws with 13.8 seconds left before Kerry Kittles missed a driving shot with about 10 seconds left for New Jersey. Howard then made two free throws with 8.7 seconds left to ice it. New Jersey held an 85-76 lead early in the fourth quarter. But Mitch Richmond sparked a nine-point Washington run with four points that helped the Wizards take a 98-95 lead with four minutes left. "We had control of the game for three quarters," New Jersey's Sherman Douglas said. "We gave it away. They didn't earn it." The Nets tied the score at 98 when Kendall Gill stole a pass from Michael Smith and made a layup. White, making his first start of the season, had a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds. Strickland added 17 points and 14 assists. Richmond finished with 22. Marbury had 20 points and 11 assists, and Keith Van Horn added 23 for the Nets. "We need to really have that killer instinct," Van Horn said. "We you have a team down by 10, you've got to put them away." Putting aside political concerns for the evening, Clinton showed up during the first half in Washington owner Abe Pollin's box between sections 101 and 102, one level behind the Wizards bench. Clinton, wearing a gray suit, sat in the front part of the box and eagerly watched the action on the court below. He was surrounded by a host of people in the box, including Pollin, New Jersey owner Lewis Katz and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. Game notesThe Nets made their first six 3-pointers and nine in the first half, the most Washington has ever allowed. ... This was only the fourth time this season that the Wizards won when trailing entering the fourth quarter. ... New Jersey had no assists in the fourth quarter despite scoring 24 points. ... Washington made 15-of-19 from the field in the first quarter. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard New Jersey Clubhouse Washington Clubhouse RECAPS Washington 108 New Jersey 104
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