Washington, 2-3 10 25 19 26 80 San Antonio, 2-3 21 16 24 23 84 Leaders: Points: J. Dixon (WAS), 26; Rebounds: A. McCaskill (SA), 9; Assists: J. Hart (SA), 10

San Antonio opened up a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter behind 12 points each by Stephen Jackson and Amal McCaskill. A three-pointer by Jamal Robinson cut the Washington deficit to 68-61. Both teams then went cold as neither team scored for the next 1:53. Then Dixon hit a three and hit a pair of free-throws to make it 68-66 with 3:22 left in the game. Then Hart made a layup and Anthony Goldwire followed with a short jumper to increase San Antonio’s lead to 72-66. Hart converted three clutch free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.

The Spurs took charge early, running out to a 17-5 lead midway through the first quarter, shooting 10-for-16 (62.5 percent) and holding the Wizards to just 4-for-17 (23.5 percent). The Wizards turned the tables in the second quarter, out-rebounding the Spurs 12-3 and holding them to just 12 shots in the quarter, cutting the Washington lead to 37-35.

But San Antonio scored the first 9 points of the third quarter on baskets by Jackson, McCaskill and Hart, and a three-point play by Michael Wright to take a 46-35 lead. They took a 61-54 lead into the fourth quarter and built that lead to 68-58 when the Wizards went on their final unsuccessful run.

McCaskill, (15 points and 9 rebounds), Jackson (14 points) and Saddie Washington (10 points) joined Hart in double-figures for the Spurs. Kwame Brown had 13 points and 8 rebounds for Washington.

Atlanta, 5-0 18 19 24 22 83 Minnesota, 2-3 23 13 19 26 81 Leaders: Points: D. Glover (ATL), 21; Rebounds: L. Woods (MIN), 9; Assists: D. Dickau (ATL), 5

Atlanta led 73-63 with 5:02 left in the game when the Timberwolves started their comeback. Marcus Taylor hit an 18-footer, Tommy Adams hit a three-pointer and Cal Bowdler hit a 17-footer to cut the deficit to 73-70 with 3:57 remaining. After a pair of Dion Glover free throws, Adams and DeMarco Johnson hit jumpers to make it 75-74. After Glover hit a three to put Atlanta back up by 4, Johnson hit a jumper to cut it to 78-76 with 56 seconds left. Then Adams stole the ball from Glover and converted it into a three-pointer with 23.8 seconds left to give the Timberwolves their first lead since late in the second quarter and set up the frantic finish.

After a timeout, Chris Carr came off the bench to hit a short jumper to put the Hawks ahead by 1 with 11.8 seconds left. Minnesota pushed the ball downcourt and set up Adams for an 18-footer which gave the Timberwolves what they thought was the winning basket with 1.2 seconds left. But the Hawks did not give up. After taking a 20-second timeout, the Hawks inbounded the ball to Carr for the attempt at the winning shot. Carr missed but was fouled by Maurice Evans with 0.7 seconds. However the referees ruled that the foul occurred before the shot and rather than having Carr go to the foul line to try to win it, Atlanta was faced with the near-impossible task of having to inbound the ball and score in less than one second. But that is just what they did. Dan Dickau inbounded the ball to Simon who heaved up a prayer from 26-feet to win it.

Atlanta led 37-36 at the half with Carr scoring 13 points in the half, before outscoring the Timberwolves 12-1 in the first three minutes of the quarter to take a 49-37 lead. Quincy Lewis and Loren Woods each scored to cut the Atlanta lead to 61-55 after three. The Hawks built the lead back up to 10 midway through the fourth quarter, before Minnesota started its comeback.

Glover led all scorers with 21 points and Carr finished with 17, while Lewis (15 points) led five Timberwolves in double-figures.

New York, 3-2 18 20 21 21 80 Orlando, 1-4 21 17 22 18 78 Leaders: Points: Sasser (ORL), 20; Rebounds: A. Parker (NY), 7; Assists: Brunson (NY), 6

The teams were tied at 66-66 with 7:30 left in the game when the Knicks (3-2) went on a 13-4 run. Skelin converted a three-point play, Thomas hit a pair of free-throws, Skelin slammed home a fast break dunk, Steve Goodrich made a layup, Thomas made a three-point play and Anthony Parker slammed home a Rick Brunson pass and in a span of 3:13, the Knicks had built up a 79-70 lead.

The Magic (1-4) came right back, going on their own run of 8-1. Chris Williams made a three-point play and then made one-of-two from the line. Pat Burke then hit a hook shot to cut the New York lead to 3 with 2:33 to play. But Orlando could not take advantage of two steals by Vonteego Cummings and still trailed by 3 when Jeryl Sasser was fouled by Parker with 42.3 seconds left. Sasser made just 1-of-2 and Orlando still trailed 79-77. Parker returned the favor by missing one-of-two from the line after being fouled by Cory Hightower and it was still a one-possession game with 2.2 seconds. But on the inbounds play, Goodrich immediately fouled Burke with 1.6 seconds left. Burke made the first and intentionally missed the second but the Magic could not get the rebound and the Knicks escaped with the win.

The game was close the first three quarters. Neither team led by more than 5 points in the first half, which ended tied, 38-38. Orlando went ahead by 7 in the fourth quarter before the Knicks, behind Pete Mickeal and Billy Keys cut the Orlando lead to 60-59 after three.

Sasser led all scorers with 20 points and Ryan Humphrey contributed 13 points. Mickeal led the Knicks with 15 points while Skelin (11 points), Keys and Thomas (10 points each) also scored in double figures New York.

Philadelphia, 2-3 19 13 20 25 77 Boston, 5-0 10 24 29 23 86 Leaders: Points: Forte (BOS), 20; Rebounds: D. Brown (PHI), 8 Assists: J. Salmons (PHI), 8

Boston took command with a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter. A pair of free-throws and a layup by Derrick Alston, a fast-break layup by Kedrick Brown off a Forte steal, a Darius Songalia layup after another steal by Forte and a free-throw by Songalia made it 51-41. Philadelphia closed it to 7 with 1:35 left in the quarter and could have gotten closer had it not been for the Boston defense. Brown stole the ball from Eric Murdock and fed it to J.R. Bremer for the fast-break layup. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Terquin Mott ran up to steal a long pass from Damone Brown and fed Forte for a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to put the Celtics up 63-52 after three.

Boston carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, starting it with an 8-0 run on a layup by Mott, a three-pointer by Bremer and a free-throw by Forte to take a 71-52 lead. The 76ers came back to make it close, outscoring the Celtics 22-7 over the next 6:23 behind 6 points each by Johnny Taylor and Nate Johnson. But Brown emphatically ended the 76ers rally with a fast-break, thunderous, left-handed dunk that brought the house down and put the Celtics back up by 8 with 50 seconds left in the game. Bremer hit four clutch free throws and Forte added two more to seal the win.

The 76ers (2-3) took an early19-6 lead in the first quarter on the strength of 9 points from Efthimios Rentzias. Boston clawed back into it late in the second quarter. Forte scored five points in a span of 1:06, including a 17-foot jumper to tie the game, 32-32. Terquin Mott’s layup gave Boston a 34-32 lead at the half.

Brown had 17 points and 7 rebounds and Bremer added 15 points. Rentzias led the 76ers with 14 points.

- Recaps by Mike Swartz