Despite holding the lead at the end of the first, second and third quarter, the Washington Wizards were unable to close-out the Philadelphia 76ers in a 109-103 loss. Leading the way for the Wizards on the night were Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler who dropped in 23 and 20 points respectively.

"This game is a similar story to previous games," said Interim Head Coach Ed Tapscott. "We just couldn't get it done in the fourth quarter. Hard work is not the issue. Execution is."

Two nights after putting up a season-low 74 points against the Pistons, the Wizards offense got rolling from the get-go against the Sixers, dropping in 28 first quarter points with a balanced attack that saw their starters score their first 12 points without the help of Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. With the rest of the starters in a flow, Butler and Jamison went on the attack, combining for 13 of the next 16 points including a deep three-pointer by Butler with 1.2 seconds left in the quarter to give the Wizards a 28-27 lead after one.

After a high scoring first, both teams turned to a reserve to keep their offense going with the Sixers' Louis Williams taking control to begin the quarter, dropping in 13 straight Philadelphia points to help the 76ers take the lead. While the Wizards fell behind in the second, Washington turned to Nick Young who brought the Wizards back with a pair of highlight reel plays.

Having struggled in several games coming into the night, Young decided to get his offense going by being aggressive and attacking the basket. He did just that in back-to-back possessions in the second; first Young drove past his defender and threw down a posterizing one-hand dunk on Marreese Speights. Following that dunk, Young once again blew by the defense and this time finished with a dunk of the two-hand variety.

"Part of my game is to create and attack the rim," said Young. "They told me to be more aggressive tonight and that is what I was trying to do."

The pair of spectacular plays ignited Young and the Wizards as Washington turned a four-point deficit into a 57-56 halftime lead.

Entering tonight it was unknown whether the Wizards would have All-Star Antawn Jamison who was listed as a game-time decision after incurring a left thumb strain on Wednesday. Being the fighter that he is, "The Captain" laced them up and after a slow first half turned it up to his All-Star level in the third, dropping in 13 points in the quarter on his way to another double-double to extend the lead to 75-67.

"He's terrific," said Tapscott on Jamison. "Antawn Jamison couldn't me more of a warrior. He's just a joy to coach."

Despite the strong play from Jamison, the Sixers recovered to go on a 10-0 run and re-gain the lead. The Sixers lead was short lived however, as the Wizards bounced back to take a two-point lead into the fourth.

In a game that was all offense for the first 36 minutes, the fouth quarter became a hard fought, low scoring affair. Unfortunately for the Wizards, close fourth quarter games have been a struggle all season, and it was again on this night, as Washington went cold from the field in falling to the Sixers by six.

"We've just got to remain positive from the top to the bottom," said Caron Butler. "We've just got to remain positive and stay on the same page because with all this losing it's easy to get separated. I've never dealt with a situation like this, but I will remain positive and continue to go out there and give great effort."

The Wizards will get back to the practice court tomorrow before they return to the court on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. against the Dallas Mavericks.