BOSTON. April 5 (Ticker) -- Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler gave the Boston Celtics all they could handle.

Arenas had 38 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Butler scored 19 of his 26 points in the first half as the Washington Wizards posted a 108-91 triumph over the Celtics.

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The duo of Arenas and Butler combined to make 24 field goals and collect nine steals.

With the win, Washington (39-35) moved 2 1/2 games in front of Milwaukee, which lost on Wednesday, for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

"Starting with that six-game road trip, that was our defining moment," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "Right now we're coming through with flying colors. We went 3-3 on that trip but it's how we've played. We played physical and together and we were in every ball game and we're carrying that throughout the end of the season."

The Wizards held a one-point advantage at the start of the fourth quarter and pushed it to 91-80 after Butler hit a jumper from the corner that capped a 12-2 run to open the period.

Paul Pierce's 3-pointer brought the Celtics within six points at the 7:26 mark, unfortunately that would be the last field goal they would make the rest of the game.

"We really didn't run our stuff," Pierce said. "We rushed a lot of shots. When they started pushing the lead it depleted us."

Arenas, who has beaten the Celtics twice this season on last-second plays, scored seven points as Washington closed the game on a 17-6 run.

"When the game's important you don't want to lose," Arenas said. "You have to win so you do whatever it takes to win."

"He (Arenas) knows this is winning time," Jordan said. "Gil knows that he's the guy that can be the difference maker and always ready for crunch time."

Antawn Jamison scored 13 points for Washington, which shot 52 percent (45-of-85) from the field and won three of four meetings from Boston this season.

Pierce scored 29 points and Tony Allen added 11 of his 14 in the first half for the Celtics (31-44), who fell 3 1/2 games behind Chicago for the final playoff spot in the East.

Boston, which shot 47 percent (34-of-71), had six players with a combined 10 years in the league registering at least 23 minutes.

"I do understand putting them all in at the same time is dangerous," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said about his young lineup. "I don't really care. I'm still going to do it right now. I think they need to get out there and play minutes so I'm going to keep doing it."