Washington, DC – DeShawn Stevenson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer late in overtime and the Atlanta Hawks held on to beat the Washington Wizards, 100-95, at Verizon Center.
Atlanta, coming off a 22-point home loss to Golden State, was paced by Lou Williams' 24 points, while Josh Smith netted 17 to go with 13 rebounds.
The Hawks have topped their Southeast Division rivals 18 times in the past 19 meetings, but were pushed to overtime Tuesday for the second time this season.
"It was tough. Any time you play a team over and over, they get a pretty good feel for you," Williams said.
They overcame the second triple-double of Jordan Crawford's career. The third- year guard totaled 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for Washington, which has dropped four straight overall.
Stevenson's 3-pointer broke a 93-93 tie with 2:08 left in overtime, then the former Wizard was fouled when he grabbed Bradley Beal's missed jumper.
Both Stevenson and Al Horford went 1-for-2 at the foul line to build a five- point lead as Washington had four straight empty possessions before Crawford got a runner to fall with 48 seconds remaining.
Horford airballed a jumper as the shot clock expired to give the Wizards one last chance to tie. Stevenson played tight defense on Crawford to force him inside, where he dished off to Nene on the right block. Nene went up for a dunk, but was blocked from behind by Smith. Stevenson grabbed the loose ball and dished to Kyle Korver, who put in his 15th and 16th point of the night at the foul line to seal the outcome.
"I can't fault our effort," Wizards head coach Randy Wittman said. "It just boiled down to making a play down the stretch."
Late in regulation Smith took a charge on Nene and threw down a putback dunk on the next possession to give Atlanta an 87-85 edge with two minutes to play. Smith had a chance to extend the lead after Nene went 1-for-2 at the foul line, but missed two at the stripe.
Beal answered with a go-ahead jumper, only to have Williams bury a deep 3- pointer at the other end for a 90-88 advantage. Improbably, Earl Barron, 0- for-8 from the field at that point, never hesitated in spotting up from the right elbow and making the tying basket with 23 seconds to go.
Jeff Teague drove the lane as time wound down and was whistled for a charge when he knocked Nene to the hardwood. Washington called timeout with 2.7 seconds left to set up a final play, and Crawford was short from 28 feet out.
Despite turning it over seven times in the first quarter, the Hawks built a 28-22 lead behind 58 percent shooting (11-of-19) from the field.
The Wizards scored 10 of the first 13 points of the second to take their first lead, and it was essentially back-and-forth the rest of the way. Atlanta was on top, 52-46, at halftime and 72-69 heading to the fourth.
Game Notes
The game featured 20 lead changes and 12 ties ... Atlanta eked out a 101-100 overtime win against Washington Nov. 21 ... Nene posted 18 points, while Beal had 17 on 8-of-22 shooting ... Smith also recorded five blocks ... Stevenson played three-plus seasons in Washington from 2006-10.
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