WASHINGTON, April 6 (Ticker) -- Richard Hamilton overcame a poor shooting night with a pair of jumpers in the final 2:11 as the Washington Wizards kept alive their faint playoff hopes with an 88-85 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Hamilton had just 15 points on 7-of-18 shooting. In one stretch, he missed 10-of-11 shots but made up for it with six points late in the fourth quarter.

After a jumper by Rodney Buford tied it at 75-75 with 4:49 left, the Wizards scored the next five points. Hamilton's short jumper capped the burst and opened an 80-75 lead with 2:11 to play.

Hamilton was bothered by a nagging groin injury and spent much of the second half getting treatment in the locker room.

NBA TV highlights from Grizzlies-Wizards: 56k | 300k Courtney Alexander looks to get a shot off against the Memphis Grizzlies defense.. Mitchell Layton NBAE/Getty Images

"Richard Hamilton and I will have to show a lot of leadership if Michael (Jordan) does not come back (next season)," Wizards guard Courtney Alexander said. "Richard and I are great leaders and it'll be a big challenge, but we're both looking forward to it."

"That was a big game we really need," Washington coach Doug Collins added. "Our guys have lost a little confidence and it was good to see them fight through that to get a win. It wasn't pretty, but that's the way we won a lot of games early in the season."

The Grizzlies countered with six of the next eight points and rookie Pau Gasol dunked to cut the deficit to 82-81 with 44 seconds remaining. But 13 seconds later, Hamilton made his biggest shot of the night, a 16-foot jumper in traffic that made it 84-81.

Jason Williams missed a layup and Etan Thomas dunked at the other end before Chris Whitney made two foul shots to halt Washington's four-game losing streak.

After Whitney's free throws, Williams had two chances to force overtime, but he missed badly on a pair of 3-pointers. The first was an off-balance shot from the left side. After he had a chance to set himself, his next shot rimmed out.

"I think everybody feels it hard," Memphis forward Lorenzen Wright said. "Everybody wants to pack it up at the end of the season, but we'll continue to work hard.

"We had a chance to win the game at the end, and you can't ask for anything more than that."

The Wizards (35-42) are three games behind Toronto and Indiana for the final Eastern Conference postseason spot with five to play.

The game featured 16 ties and 10 lead changes and neither team led by more than seven points.

Washington used a 7-0 run to snap a 56-56 tie midway through the third quarter. Alexander, whose minutes had diminished with Jordan's presence, started the spurt with a driving layup with 6:14 left.

Jahidi White made a jump hook, Tyrone Nesby converted a three-point play and Alexander capped the run with a dunk with 3:56 remaining.

The Wizards could not pull away, however, and while Hamilton was slumping, Memphis hung around.

The Grizzlies got 16 points from Gasol, who scored a career-high 32 in Friday's win over Houston.