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Sweat dripped from Gerald Wallace’s nose like a heavyweight boxer, but his slight smirk still told the story. He, like the Bobcats, scrapped through fatigue and delivered late jabs to stun the Wizards for the second time in as many nights.

Charlotte held tough late, withering Washington’s once-proud playoff hopes with a 108-100 victory on Wednesday at the Verizon Center. The Bobcats followed a 20-point win over the Wizards on Tuesday in Charlotte with the thriller, giving the Bobcats their fourth win in five games.

Charlotte avoided its road woes, winning for the first time in six tries in Washington. The Wizards, who lost leading scorer Gilbert Arenas in the first quarter, have lost six of their past eight and fell one game behind idle Miami in the Southeast Division.

Wallace was again “amazing”, echoing his coach’s postgame comments from a night before with a game-high 27 points on 11-20 shooting. Wallace added 12 rebounds and eight assists, finishing two assists shy of the franchise’s first-ever triple-double.

“I want to win, so if you want to win, you’ve got to keep getting up,” Wallace, who totaled 20-plus points for the sixth time in his past eight games, said.

Walter Herrmann scored 20 points, including four free throws in the final minute to seal the Bobcats record 30th victory, one shy of the mark set by Orlando in 1991-1992 as the most successful expansion team in its first three years since 1980. The rookie shot 7-13 from the field to contribute 20-plus points for the fifth straight time and added nine rebounds, one shy of his career-high.

Emeka Okafor had his 38th double-double of the year, contributing 17 points and 10 rebounds, while rookie Adam Morrison added 11 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and tied a career-high seven assists.

Raymond Felton netted 19 points, including nine in the final frame. He shot 7-16 from the field, made three treys and handed out seven assists.

Felton was pivotal in the final five minutes when the Bobcats finished on an 18-8 run. Following back-to-back three-pointers from Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson, Felton drained a trey from the right wing to give the Bobcats a 94-92 lead. Two possessions later, the second-year point guard nailed a stepback jumper.

“At the end, it came down to who wanted it more,” Felton said. “Both teams played well, fought hard, and made runs, but in the end we overpowered them. We had to lock down and make stops, and we did that.”

Washington cut the lead to 102-100 with 1:05 left, but Brevin Knight blew past Antonio Daniels on the ensuing possession, feeding Herrmann, who was promptly fouled. The 27-year-old rookie nailed both free throws, extending the lead beyond the Washington’s reach, especially without two of its biggest stars.

Already without first-time All-Star Caron Butler due to a fractured right hand, the Wizards suffered another critical late-season injury to Arenas when Wallace’s jab step shook reserve forward Michael Ruffin, leading to an acrobatic reverse layup with 2:04 left in the first quarter. Coming down, Wallace accidentally collided with the side of Arenas’ left knee while he was waiting for the rebound.

"We’ve improved each year on what we’ve done. The guys, they want (the playoffs), and my answer to them is ‘Who knows?’ Just keep playing."
-- Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff

The Wizards leading scorer limped off the court under his own power, but did not return and will have an MRI on Thursday to determine the full extent of the damage.

Arenas did not start for the first time this season because he was late for the team’s shootaround and finished without any points, well off the NBA’s third-ranked 28.8-point average entering Wednesday's game.

Wallace suffered a similar scare nearly 10 minutes later, landing on his lower back after a mid-air collision with Etan Thomas. After grimacing in pain initially, Wallace stayed in, nailing both free throws after Thomas’ flagrant foul.

Wallace again bumped into Thomas midway through the fourth quarter. But Wallace, who beat Charlottean Antawn Jamison with his first step, flicked the basket through and hit the subsequent free throw to cap an 11-4 Bobcats run.

In four games against Washington this year, Wallace averaged 28.3 points and 11.3 rebounds to help Charlotte split the season series.

The Bobcats again went with an eight-man rotation and shot 50 percent (41-82) from the field and 90.9 percent (20-22) from the free throw line. The Wizards, however did outrebound the Bobcats 42-30.

Jamison paced the Wizards with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Thomas, starting for the third time place of Brendan Haywood, scored a season-best 19 points, 17 of which were in the first half, and added 10 rebounds. Daniels, who got his first start, finished with 18 points and a career-high 17 assists.

With New York’s loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday, a Washington victory would have clinched a playoff berth with eight games remaining. Instead, the Bobcats were the one talking playoffs.

Charlotte is still statistically alive, but with six games remaining and four-and-a-half games from the final slot, the chances are remote.

“We feel like we can finish up these last games strong and if not make the playoffs, at least have something to build on for next season,” Wallace said.

The Bobcats now return to Charlotte Bobcats Arena to host the Pacers at 7 p.m. on Friday. Get your tickets now. All fans will receive Bobcats team posters.