OAKLAND, Calif., March 18 (Ticker) -- Washington Wizards guard Chris Whitney did not let a bad night from beyond the arc ruin his confidence.

Whitney's 3-pointer with 12 seconds left put Washington on top and Popeye Jones preserved a one-point edge by drawing a charge six seconds later as the Wizards posted a much-needed 99-96 triumph over the Golden State Warriors.

Whitney, who led Washington with 20 points, was just 1-of-6 from 3-point range prior to his basket from the left wing.

With Washington down, 96-94, Whitney faked right, came back to his left and never looked inside for the tying score. Instead he buried the 3-pointer that proved to be the difference.

NBA TV highlights from Wizards-Warriors: 56k | 300k Richard Hamilton shoots over Jason Richardson for two of his 17 points against the Warriors. Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images

"They say normally you have to go for the win on the road and during the timeout, (coach Doug Collins) came up with a great play," said Whitney, who matched his season high for points in a game. "As soon as the shot left my hand I knew it was good."

Whitney sealed Washington's second win in nine games with a free throw with five seconds to go as the Wizards played their fourth game on a seven-game road trip.

"Our guys realized the importance of this game," Collins said. "I told our guys that they worked too hard this season to lose this game and they believed we were going to win. We had so many guys do so many things for us."

Rookie Gilbert Arenas led Golden State with a career-high 25 points but missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"Gilbert played a fine game," Golden State coach Brian Winters said. "He made shots, ran the team well and didn't turn the ball over too much."

Golden State, which was up seven with 4:20 left, lost its sixth straight game.

"I thought we played a good game and lost tonight," Winters added. "For the most part I thought we moved the ball around well, but we turned it over a few times near the end."

"We missed free throws and like usual, we turned the ball over late in the game," Arenas said. "It hurts us every game. We need to learn to value the ball at the end and I think we will pull out games like that."

Golden State led 79-78 entering the fourth quarter and pushed that lead to 92-85 following a layup by Antawn Jamison with 4:20 to go.

But Richard Hamilton hit two free throws and Jones hit a runner in the lane to get Washington within 92-89.

After Arenas buried a 21-footer, Jones hit a free throw and Hamilton sank a 15-footer to slice the deficit to two. But Washington never took the lead until Whitney's 3-pointer.

Washington remained 2 1/2 games behind Charlotte for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"This win was real big for us," Whitney said. "Coach told us before the game that if we didn't win these next two games it didn't look like we were going to make the playoffs. I think the guys came out with the attitude that we had to take care of business."

Tyrone Nesby had 15 points and a season high-tying 10 rebounds off the bench for Washington.

Golden State forward Danny Fortson sat out the second of two-game league suspension.