Butler returns, helps Wizards end skid
rode big games from four players to beat the Caron Butler returned from two sore ankles to score 25 points and the Washington WizardsCharlotte Bobcats 108-104 on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.Antawn Jamison added 26 points and 14 rebounds, Roger Mason scored a career-high 24 points and Brendan Haywood had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who gave coach Eddie Jordan his 200th career win.
Butler, who missed Saturday’s loss to Indiana after injuring both ankles in a week, had a three-point play late in the third quarter to put Washington ahead to stay.
His fadeaway with 4:07 left put Washington ahead 101-90. After the Bobcats cut the lead to three with 26 seconds left, Nick Young got behind Charlotte’s defense and Mason found him for an open dunk to put it away.
It was part of a big night for Mason, who continued his torrid play since replacing Antonio Daniels, who missed his fifth straight game with a sprained right knee. He scored 16 points in the first quarter, then had consecutive 3s in a 15-2 third-quarter run.
Washington needed big games from the four, as the rest of the team combined for 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
Gerald Wallace scored 32 points and Jason Richardson added 27 for the Bobcats, who lost their second straight game.
Charlotte’s big men struggled. Emeka Okafor didn’t grab his first rebound until late in the first half and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Nazr Mohammed was in foul trouble most of the night and was held to six points and 12 rebounds. The Bobcats were outrebounded 44-39.
Mason, a former second-round pick who has bounced around the league and spent two years playing in Israel, couldn’t miss to start the game. He shot 6-for-6, including four 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Wizards scored a season-high 41 points in the first period in building and 11-point lead.
Jordan improved to 200-252 in six-plus seasons in the NBA, including a short stint with Sacramento.
Bobcats coach Sam Vincent, upset with the officiating all night, shouted at the officials on the court after the game and had to be restrained by assistant coaches Lee Rose and Paul Mokeski.
