Houston scores 39, Knicks edge Wizards

Of the two, Thomas was the only one to leave the arena with some consolation.

Thomas put aside his displeasure over his reduced role and drew a key charging foul with 15.6 seconds left to help the New York Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 89-87 Sunday night.

Allan Houston tied his season high with 39 points, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks ran almost every play for him. His 23-footer with 18.1 seconds left broke an 84-84 tie and gave New York the lead for good.

Larry Hughes had 19 points for Washington but made two poor plays on the offensive end in the final 16 seconds -- committing a charging foul against Thomas, then taking an off-balance 2-pointer and looking for a bailout call with his team trailing by three.

Jordan felt the officiating crew of Dick Bavetta, Michael Smith and Tony Brown should have given Hughes at least one of those calls.

``When 18,000 people and two teams can see obvious calls, how come three guys can't see it. And you get the same weak excuses every night, 'I didn't see it, I didn't see it,''' Jordan said.

``I don't know what reputation Larry Hughes has around the league, he just can't get the proper respect as an NBA player. Something's got to be done about it. Somebody has to do their job a little bit harder.''

Said Hughes: ``That's the way it's been going. Any time we have a 50-50 call or a 50-50 chance, the other guy usually gets the call.''

The Wizards were short-handed after Gilbert Arenas went back on the injured list. He played just one game after returning from an abdominal injury.

Thomas came off the bench for the first time since April 8, 2001, finishing with seven points and six rebounds in 28 minutes.

Antonio McDyess had 12 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes -- his most playing time since returning eight games ago following a knee injury. Charlie Ward added 13 points and five assists for the Knicks, playing the entire fourth quarter as coach Don Chaney again juggled his point guard rotation.

The change at the starting power forward position didn't sit well with Thomas.

``I'm shocked and definitely not pleased,'' he said. ``It's definitely an adjustment. It's going to take me some time to get into my new role on the team, but as long as we keep winning I'm happy.''

The Knicks took an 84-82 lead when Ward stole the ball from Brevin Knight and whipped a hook shot-like pass 60 feet downcourt, hitting McDyess in stride for a breakaway dunk with 39 seconds left.

Etan Thomas tied it on two free throws with 32 seconds left before Houston nailed his 23-footer over Jared Jeffries for an 86-84 lead.

Hughes drove the lane on Washington's next possession and barreled over Thomas for an offensive foul, and Thomas hit one of two from the line for an 87-84 lead.

With 10 seconds remaining, Hughes leaned into Thomas and tossed up a 21-footer that never had a chance. The Knicks rebounded, and Ward made a pair of free throws to wrap up the victory.

``He tried to jump into me to try to get a call, but I was pulling back,'' Thomas said. ``He kind of caught me in the mouth. I'm glad they didn't call iton him.''

Notes: Arenas missed eight games with a strained abdominal muscle before returning Friday night against Minnesota. He had nine points and four assists in 24 minutes of a 110-91 loss. ``He didn't really re-injure himself,'' Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. ``It's just very sore, a little more sore than he expected. ... Jordan made another change to his starting frontcourt, replacing Christian Laettner with Jared Jeffries. Kwame Brown played poorly off the bench for the second straight game, missing five of eight free throw attempts. ... The Knicks played back-to-back home games for the first time since Feb. 15-16,1999. They are 2-5 in the second night of back-to-backs.