With 7:42 left in the fourth quarter, the Washington Wizards were staring down the barrel of a 19-point deficit to arguably the best team in the NBA. However, led by Caron Butler's 26 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, the Wizards cut the Lakers lead to just two points with 13 seconds left, but similar to their comeback bid, Butler's game-winning three-point attempt at the buzzer just fell short and the Lakers held on for a 106-104 win.

"Personally, I'm a big basketball fan, and I know that the (Los Angeles) Lakers are the best team in basketball right now -- them and the Boston Celtics," said Butler. "For us to come out here and compete and weather the storm in the fourth quarter and as well as in the first half, that shows a lot of character and effort on our part. We have a good ball club. We're not seeing the results that we want to see immediately, but it's definitely turning and things will be better in the immediate future."

Los Angeles took their first double-digit lead just a few minutes into the game at 18-7 thanks to the play of their seven-footer twin towers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. The Lakers eventually built their lead to as much as 16 late in the first, but the Wizards used a 5-0 run to make it a 35-24 game after one quarter of play.

Looking for that spark off the bench, Tapscott turned to a player with many ties to the L.A. area, Nick Young. Young grew up as a Laker and Kobe Bryant fan so it came as no surprise that when faced against his childhood idol, Young rose to the occasion. After watching his team struggle throughout the first quarter, Young gave the Wizards an instant jolt and surprisingly it began on the defensive end. Following his entrance, Young blocked a shot, had a steal and forced a turnover in the first few Laker possessions.

"Those little things got me going," said Young. "Hearing the cheers from my teammates got me going. Then I saw that #24 (Kobe Bryant) and he is one of my favorite players growing up and I just decided I was going to go after him on offense."

Young did exactly that as he turned his strong defensive play into something most Wizards fans have grown accustomed to: his innate ability to score the basketball. The second-year player out of USC delivered a pair of assists to begin a 7-0 Wizards run and followed that up with a baseline jam against Bryant and several jumpers including a three-pointer that cut the Lakers lead to two at 46-44.

These two quarters proved to be a mirror image of the second half as the Lakers built a big lead only to see the Wizards crawl back into the game with hustle, energy and a strong performance from their youthful bench.

"I had a little discussion with the young guys off the bench," said Interim Head Coach Ed Tapscott. "I said I'm going to need you tonight and I'm going to play you. I said come prepared and I thought they did. They brought good energy. They competed well. They made plays and that is a good sign for us. As the young guys grow up we will become more cohesive."

After coming back in the second, the third quarter was all about the Lakers as Los Angeles pushed their five-point halftime lead to 20 points at 85-65. It was a group effort out of the Lakers as all five starters ended the third in double figures for the game. Despite the deficit, the Wizards did cut the Laker lead and went into the fourth trailing 87-72.

While Young gave the Wizards a burst in the second, it was Andray Blatche who helped carry the team in the fourth. Trailing by 19 at 99-80, Blatche led the Wizards on a 12-0 to pull within seven at 99-92 with just over four minutes remaining. Having made a huge gash into the Laker lead, the Wizards and Lakers traded baskets on the next several possessions until Washington chipped the seven-point lead to one possession, following a big two-hand slam by Blatche and a pair of free throws by Caron Butler to make it 103-100 with over a minute remaining.

"We had a good flow going offensively and defensively," said Tapscott. "Some of the technical things like keeping our guards up and switching on pick-and-rolls are some of the thing that we executed well on tonight and it allowed us to get back in the game. Doing those things shows terrific effort and it also shows execution."

A key component to the Wizards' run was the team's ability to shut down last season's NBA MVP, Kobe Bryant. Bryant missed his first five shots in the fourth with his last one allowing Caron Butler to pull the Wizards to the closest they had been all game with a fall away jumper to make it 103-102. However, after missing all of his previous shots in the quarter, Bryant appeared to lose the ball on the ensuing, but recovered and hit a fadeaway jumper off glass to push the lead back to 105-102.

Down by three with 24 seconds left, Blatche came up big again when he put putback his own miss with 14.6 seconds left to cut it back to one. Following the make, the Wizards fouled Bryant immediately, and on a night when he had made his previous 13 free throws, Bryant finally missed allowing the Wizards to take the final shot for the win. "Trevor (Ariza) is a real good defender, I knew he wasn't going to go for the shot fake and I had an opportunity with a clean look and it just fell a little short," said Butler on the last play of the game. "I liked the look and I had a lot of confidence in the shot, but it just fell a little short. It was still a good situation because the ball was in one of our hands, either myself or Antawn (Jamison) and that's what you want down the stretch."

The Wizards will look to get back on the winning track tomorrow night when they take on the Chicago Bulls at 8:30p.m.