Wizards outlast Hawks in OT

ATLANTA — The playoffs are months away, but when two teams from the same division playing for the third time with postseason aspirations meet, the results can be enthralling.

That was the case last night at Philips Arena, where the Washington Wizards got huge defensive plays and made crucial free throws late to earn a 102-98 overtime victory over Atlanta.

“In the course of 82 games you are going to have those games where you are going to have to rely on your defense and slug it out,” said Washington’s Antawn Jamison, who pulled down a season-high 17 rebounds. “Tonight we did everything possible to win on the road.”

Not much to argue with there.

The Wizards shook off an Atlanta blitz at the end of the third quarter that saw the Hawks use an 18-4 run to energize their 16,064 fans. Washington got great defensive play out of Andray Blatche (five blocks), and DeShawn Stevenson, who hounded Hawks star Joe Johnson and came up with a huge block on him late.

And perhaps most importantly, they made their free throws, knocking down 22 of 24 for the game and went 9-for-10 from the stripe in overtime.

It all added up to a nice win for a team that is now 2-1 in overtime and 18-16 on the season. However, there will be no rest for the Wizards, who hopped on plane last night and got up knowing that they will have a hungry Boston team waiting on them tonight at Verizon Center.

“This was a big win for us tonight in overtime, and if we can beat Boston tomorrow that would be two good wins against two good teams,” said Stevenson, who finished with 19 points and two blocks.

Antonio Daniels (14 points, seven assists) hit a beautiful scoop shot with 37.5 seconds remaining in overtime to put the Wizards ahead for good 96-94.

The Hawks, led by Josh Smith’s 35 points, nine boards and three blocks, looked like the more athletic team for most of the night. But down the stretch the Wizards proved to be the more veteran group.

Meanwhile, the Hawks were just 12-for-22 from the free throw line.

“It was a tough loss,” Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said. “We had our chances, and I thought they just wanted it a little bit more. We had an opportunity and I don’t think coming down the stretch we made two free throws in a row. Those were huge in a close game. They made plays and we just weren’t able to get it done.”

Jamison checked in with 22 points, and Caron Butler finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Blatche had 13 points and made it hard for Wizards coach Eddie Jordan to take him off the floor.

“I just wanted to come in and play with a lot of energy tonight,” Blatche said. “It was a tough game, but it’s good to get a win because we needed this.”

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