LOS ANGELES -- It was almost like Scrooge was about to yank Christmas right from under the Washington Bullets. A 20-point fourth-quarter lead had been cut to three in the closing seconds, and with the lowly Los Angeles Clippers getting wide-open three-point looks, the Washington players were in disbelief.
"I said, 'Please don't hit a three, please don't hit a three,' " Calbert Cheaney said. "I was just saying 'I want to go home.' "
The Bullets were able to escape the L.A. Sports Arena with smiles on their faces, beating the Clippers, 105-102, before 7,600. The win ended an eight-game losing streak, and gave Washington (7-16) a victory in the last game of a four-game, five-day road trip.
It was a big night for Mitchell Butler, returning home to play for the first time this season. Butler scored a game-high 22 points and hit both of his three-pointers while playing a solid 29 minutes.
"It felt good," Butler said. "To play in front of family, friends and to get a win on top of that is nice."
Cheaney overcame a poor start (2-for-10 from the field) to score 17 points, and five Washington players scored in double figures. Juwan Howard had 13 rebounds and Gheorghe Muresan 10 to help the Bullets to a 49-42 rebounding edge.
For the Clippers, it was business as usual. It was the team's fourth straight loss and dropped the league's worst club to 3-22. Loy Vaught's 20 points and 18 by rookie Lamond Murray were all for naught.
"We anticipated a win because we're playing better as a team and our confidence is growing," Vaught said.
With both the injured Chris Webber and Rex Chapman looking on in street clothes and center Kevin Duckworth not playing in the second half, there was a rare occurrence against the Clippers -- a lead going into the fourth quarter. It was a good sign, with the Bullets having a 5-1 record in games in which they've led entering the final quarter.
The lead going into the fourth last night was 85-68, but the Bullets didn't make it easy, committing two of their 18 turnovers in the final 31 seconds -- both leading to Los Angeles scores.
But the Clippers were unable to capitalize with three game-tying attempts in the final 14 seconds, saving the Bullets the embarrassment of losing to the Clippers and the Minnesota Timberwolves -- the two worst teams in the league -- in the same week.
"It's kind of hard to be jubilant, the circumstances as they were," Scott Skiles said. "The bottom line is we won. You know the old saying, beggars can't be choosy."
As if the injures to Webber and Chapman weren't enough, Duckworth played five minutes in the first half and never returned.
Duckworth said that the Achilles' injury that kept him out of two games this past week was the reason.
"I had nothing in my left leg," Duckworth said. "It's hurting the team with me playing. If I'm hurting the team, I don't want to keep playing."
As bad as the Clippers are, the Bullets found themselves fighting back from an 11-point first-half deficit to take a 54-52 halftime lead. They did it behind the shooting and defense of Muresan, who scored 10 points and blocked three shots in the first half.
With the Bullets shooting poorly from the outset, the Clippers were able to take an early 12-4 lead after a layup by Murray. Back-to-back baskets by Anthony Tucker and Muresan closed the gap to four, but the Clippers ran off a 9-2 run that gave L.A. a 21-10 lead.
Washington's bench was able to turn the game around in the second quarter. Muresan got things going by hitting a short jumper, and later his rebound and layup tied the game at 35. The 7-foot-7 center wound up hitting all four of his shots in the quarter.
It was also a good quarter for reserve guard Doug Overton, who hit four of five shots for eight points, and had three assists, in eight minutes. With the Bullets trailing 42-39, Overton scored six points during an 8-3 run, with his layup with 2:21 left giving Washington a 47-45 lead.
The Bullets had 35 points in the second quarter for a two-point halftime lead.
Cheaney looked to make up for his poor-shooting first half at the start of the third quarter when he scored six points during a 12-4 run that gave Washington a 66-57 lead.