MILWAUKEE, April 12 (Ticker) -- T.J. Ford used his defensive quickness when the Milwaukee Bucks needed it the most.

Ford collected the last of his five steals with one second remaining as the Bucks escaped with a 100-97 victory over the struggling Washington Wizards, who lost their fourth straight game.

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T.J. Ford used his defensive quickness when the Milwaukee Bucks needed it the most.

Ford collected the last of his five steals with one second remaining as the Bucks escaped with a 100-97 victory over the struggling Washington Wizards, who lost their fourth straight game.

Milwaukee (38-40) and Indiana (38-40), which also won Wednesday, are just one game behind Washington (39-39) for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

"We can't look at it like we are however many games ahead, we've been down that path before," said Washington All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas, who scored 25 points. "We hold our own destiny from here on out."

Michael Redd's finger-roll with 35 seconds remaining had given the Bucks a 96-94 lead. Washington answered as Arenas found Antawn Jamison, who scored 16 points, for an open 3-pointer seven seconds later.

"I just wanted the ball in my hands down the stretch to make a play for this team," said Redd, who scored 24 points.

"Antawn made a huge shot after struggling most of the game but we needed a stop," Washington coach Eddie Jordan said. "Redd is a tremendous player, but we had our best defender on him and I felt like we did the right thing."

Following a basket by Redd, Arenas tried to responded with a pull-up jumper on the next possession but Ford stole the ball.

"I was just glad he didn't get a chance to get it up," said Ford, who scored 16 points. "I think I defended him well, I knew he was going to get the last shot and just wanted to stay in front of him."

"Washington has won a lot of games with Arenas at the end," Milwaukee coach Terry Stotts said. "For T.J. to get that steal was just a huge play."

Ford made two free throws and Jamsion missed a heave as time expired.

Rookie Andrew Bogut scored 17 points and Joe Smith scored 14 off the bench for Milwaukee, which shot 50 percent (35-of-69) and forced 19 turnovers.

Antonio Daniels scored 21 points and Jared Jeffries contributed 20 and eight rebounds for the Wizards, who shot 44 percent (34-of-78).