Wall leads Wizards past Hornets 110-107 in double-overtime


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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Wizards were on the verge of watching a fourth-quarter lead dissolve into a bad loss for the second game in a row.

Instead, they won a thriller.

John Wall scored seven of his game-high 32 points in the second overtime, and the Wizards held off the Charlotte Hornets 110-107 on Friday night.

Wall's pull-up jumper with 9.9 seconds left made it 110-107, and Charlotte's Mo Williams and Al Jefferson missed 3-pointers in the final seconds.

"That's the reason you want to be a franchise guy," Wall said. "You want to be the leader of a team. I know at times I didn't get the ball in those situations. ... I guess now I'm making them and shooting them with confidence."

Wall tied the game late in regulation after Washington lost the six-point lead they built midway through the fourth.

It was Wall's second game in a row with 30-plus points, and the Wizards (41-32) snapped a four-game losing streak two nights after blowing a 10-point fourth quarter lead to Indiana.

Washington reserve Drew Gooden finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

"You play me a minute, two minutes, something's going to happen, whether it's going to be a block, a steal, a charge. I'm going to be active," Gooden said. "You play me 39 minutes, a lot of stuff's going to happen."

The 39 minutes were more than Gooden played during the entire month of January.

"Drew was huge and I just rode him," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.

Washington outrebounded Charlotte 72-61.

Bradley Beal, questionable after spraining his right ankle Wednesday, added 16 points.

Jefferson scored 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Charlotte. Williams, who was questionable with a sore left knee, added 26 points and 10 assists.

"I think this loss is going to haunt us all summer long, even when we do make the playoffs." Jefferson said. "This loss could probably be the difference between the eighth seed and the seventh seed."

Charlotte (30-41), battling for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, has lost eight of 10 and sits in 11th place.

"We put ourselves in a position here tonight to win a game on the road, we made a couple of mistakes late on plays that need to be made and it cost us a win," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.

Wall's jumper tied it at 96 with 3.3 seconds left in regulation. Wall and Charlotte's Kemba Walker both missed shots in the final seconds of the first overtime.

Rasual Butler's 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds left in regulation pulled Washington within one at 95-94. Charlotte's Jeffrey Taylor made one of two free throws before Wall tied it.

Williams' 3-point attempt fell short to end regulation.

Washington opened the fourth quarter with a 13-3 run and led 88-82 with 7:14 left. The Wizards then went cold, and Jefferson's dunk, the Hornets' first field goal of the quarter, tied it at 88 with 3:48 left.

Williams' 3-pointer put Charlotte ahead 91-88. After a turnover by Washington, Walker's two free throws put Charlotte up 95-91 with 14 seconds left.

TIP INS

Hornets: Split the season series with Washington 2-2. ... F Cody Zeller (sore right shoulder) missed his fourth straight game.

Wizards: Signed G Will Bynum to a 10-day contract and waived F Toure' Murry. Bynum was scoreless in three minutes of action. ... F Kris Humphries (strained left groin), G Garrett Temple (right hamstring strain) and C-F DeJuan Blair (personal reasons) were out.

WIZARD GRANT A WISH

Washington partnered with Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic to grant the wish of 13-year-old Wizards fan Nitin Ramachandran of Herndon, Virginia. Ramachandran, who is battling a form of brain cancer, was signed to a one-day contract and took part in the team's shoot-around and pregame warmups. Ramachandran was then introduced as part of the starting lineup and sat with Wittman during the coach's postgame news conference.

WATCHING WILLIAMS

Clifford said Williams will be monitored closely as he tries to play through the soreness in his knee. "He'll have, I would think, limited practice time and then we'll have to gauge it from half to half on just how his knee is feeling," Clifford said before the game. "If he feels good, and he's moving the ball, then we'll try to play him regular minutes."

UP NEXT

Hornets: Host Atlanta on Saturday.

Wizards: Host Houston on Sunday.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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