Arenas comes through at the end for Wizards

Gilbert Arenas scored 39 points and out-dueled Gerald Wallace down the stretch, and the Washington Wizards defeated the host Charlotte Bobcats, 114-107, Wednesday night for their fourth consecutive victory.

Arenas made a three-point basket and a layup and drew a charge that fouled out Raymond Felton in the last four minutes.

Wallace scored 40 points -- one shy of his career high -- and had 14 rebounds and six steals, but managed only two free throws in the last 2 minutes 45 seconds.

“That’s one of the top games I’ve played, and we didn’t win,” Wallace said. “You fight back and take the lead and then their key player makes the big shots that they need. He raises up and shoots them from Greensboro.”

Felton had 22 points for the Bobcats, who lost their third consecutive game.

Caron Butler had 25 points for Washington, which became the first team since Phoenix 12 years ago to score 106 points in 12 consecutive games.

“We’re a scoring team. Just like Phoenix, we try to score so much and so fast, everyone is going to have opportunities to score,” Arenas said. “That’s why we have to get key stops at the end.”

Milwaukee 112, Memphis 96 -- Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd each scored 20 points to help the Bucks win their sixth game in a row and hand the host Grizzlies their fifth consecutive loss.

Pau Gasol, continuing his return from foot surgery, had a season-high 29 points and seven rebounds for Memphis.

Cleveland 89, Atlanta 76 -- LeBron James scored 27 points, and the Cavaliers handed the Hawks their fifth consecutive loss.

Cleveland, which had won only three of 11 road games this season, won for the sixth consecutive time in Atlanta. The Cavaliers ended a four-game road skid.

Houston 96, New Jersey 71 -- Shane Battier made a career-high seven three-point baskets and scored 23 points to help lift the Rockets at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Rockets limited the Nets to 33% shooting and outrebounded them, 54-32.

Before the game, Jason Kidd was fined $20,000 by the league for a rant after the Nets lost to Detroit on Tuesday. He referred to officials Jim Clark, Tom Washington and Eric Lewis as “three blind mice.”

Toronto 100, Minnesota 97 -- T.J. Ford scored 28 points, and the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors improved to 8-3 at home after returning from a 2-2 West Coast trip.

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and Mike James had 20 for the Timberwolves.

Chicago 109, Miami 103 -- Ben Gordon scored a career-high 40 points off the bench to lead the host Bulls over the short-handed Heat, which lost Dwyane Wade to a sprained wrist in the first quarter.

Gordon became the first Bulls player to score 40 points in a game since Michael Jordan had 40 on April 5, 1998, at Houston.

Sacramento 101, Philadelphia 76 -- Ron Artest provided a spark in his return to the lineup after sitting out two games because of sore knees and Mike Bibby had 21 points for the Kings at Sacramento.

Artest played 34 minutes, hitting the court for loose balls and crashing the boards. He had 10 points.

Portland 100, New Orleans 85 -- Zach Randolph had 26 points and 11 rebounds to help defeat the short-handed Hornets, who have dropped 14 of their last 17 games and have lost six road games in a row.