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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. John Wall helped ignite the decisive run. First he dunked off an alley-oop dunk pass from Booker and then when he grabbed a loose ball as the 24-second shot clock wound down and hit a 3-point shot from 35 feet at the shot-clock buzzer. Of the dunk off the high pass from Booker, Wall said: "We try them in practice sometimes. Hell be thinking hes a point guard sometimes, so I just told him to throw it up and he put it on the money." Marcin Gortat added 18 points for the Wizards, who improved to 15-17, while Wall contributed 17 points, Trevor Booker 12 and Martell Webster 10. Gortat added 12 rebounds and also stopped Al Jefferson, holding Charlottes centre to just six points. "I always feel good playing against Al and its a huge challenge for me also," Gortat said. "Hes a very difficult player to guard and very smart. I remember all the battles back in the West where he played for Utah and I played for Phoenix and we always battled every year for at least four times. I kind of learned to play against him. I know how to play against him and I was really focused." Gerald Henderson scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Bobcats, but questioned his own defensive intensity -- and that of his teammates on both ends of the court -- in the lacklustre defeat for Charlotte, which fell to 15-21 overall and 8-11 at home. Kemba Walker added 19 points and Ramon Sessions was the only other Bobcat to score in double figures with 10. "Coming into the game, it was a game where we really thought we could get back on track," Henderson said. "We beat Sacramento (on the road) in our previous game, but we just didnt come up with the plays. We got down in the third quarter and couldnt come back. "We didnt play with a lot of intensity on either end tonight. We lost track of them in that third quarter, and we didnt really play with a lot of force offensively, either. ... I feel like I could have played a lot better defence on Beal and some of their other perimeter players." The same couldnt be said for the Bobcats, who were coming off a 1-4 road trip. "The toughest game is the first game after a long road trip," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. "It comes down to will, mental toughness and how bad you want to win." The Wizards led 43-39 after a listless first half, during which both teams shot just under 43 per cent from the field. Henderson scored 11 of Charlottes first 13 points in the first six minutes of the game, but then proceeded to miss six of his last seven shots in the first half. He was the only player from either team to reach double figures in scoring in the opening half with 15. The Bobcats were particularly inept on offence in the opening half, missing half of their 12 free-throw attempts while failing to register any fast-break or second-chance points. Yet the game remained close, with the Bobcats pulling to within 47-45 on a 3-pointer by Chris Douglas-Roberts with 9:32 left in the third quarter, before the Wizards conjured up their 17-0 run. The Bobcats were down 19, 64-45, before they scored again on a pair of free throws by Anthony Tolliver. From there, the Bobcats furiously attempted to rally. But the closest they could come was to within 88-81 on a 3-point play by Tolliver with 2:14 remaining. Beal immediately answered with a jumper for the Wizards, who then went on to close the game with a 9-2 run. The Wizards held a 46-38 rebounding advantage and a 28-18 edge on points in the paint, led by Gortat. "He took the challenge and came out and played," Wall said of Gortat. "For some reason when we hit the road we find the way to play the best way we need to play and find a way to win these games." Notes: The Wizards have won five in a row against East teams on the road. ... Gortat had his 11th double-double of the season. ... Jefferson had his streak of double-figure games snapped at 22. He had scored a season-high 27 points on Saturday against Sacramento. John Wensink Jersey . Terms of the contract were not disclosed by the club. Clemons spent his first five NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2009 draft out of Clemson. Rene Robert Jersey . -- Athletics manager Bob Melvin is already starting to run out of superlatives to describe Scott Kazmir. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/. He could have transferred when academic sanctions barred the Huskies from the NCAA tournament his junior season. Peter Forsberg Jersey . Milan was held to 1-1 at home by Torino. Cagliari scored six minutes from halftime when Mauricio Pinilla blasted home from the penalty spot after Facundo Roncaglia tripped Marco Sau. The home side could have doubled its tally in stoppage time as first Fiorentina defender Stefan Savic almost scored an own goal then Albin Ekdals shot clipped the top of the upright. Lanny McDonald Jersey . When Reyes signed a US$106-million, six-year deal with Miami last month, there was speculation Ramirez was unhappy about being supplanted at short. But new manager Ozzie Guillen sold Ramirez on the idea.PARIS - Andre-Pierre Gignac scored from the penalty spot early in the second half for second-place Marseille to beat Evian 1-0 and keep the pressure on French league leader Lyon on Saturday.The penalty was awarded in the 49th minute after veteran midfielder Cedric Barbosa barged into winger Dimitri Payet. France striker Gignac drove a low shot under the body of goalkeeper Benjamin Leroy for his 14th league goal.Marseille, which had lost two of its past three league games, needed to win after title rival Paris Saint-Germains 1-0 win at home to Rennes on Friday.This hard-fought win keeps Marseille level on points with PSG — both sides have the same goal difference, too — and one point behind Lyon, which faces a tough match at Monaco on Sunday.Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa was disappointed with his teams lack of creativity.The goal difference today should have been more in our favour, Bielsa said. In the last 30 minutes, the teams were pretty even and we didnt get many chances.While Marseilles away form has been awful — with no win on the road for the past eight games — the home form remains impressive.The Stade Velodrome crowd helps Marseille pick up points, Evian coach Pascal Dupraz said. All of our efforts today were undone by that penalty.Lille could not bounce back after two consecutive losses and was held to 1-1 at Nantes. The visitors opened the scoringg in the first half after Kevin Koubembas pass in the back of a lethargic defence deflected into midfielder Jonathan Delaplaces path.dddddddddddd Delaplace fired home with a powerful strike from close range.But Oswaldo Vizcarrondo levelled 10 minutes from time with a header from a corner.After an awful start to the season, Bastia continued on the road of recovery with a 1-1 draw at struggling Lens, and extended its unbeaten league run to six matches.Sixth-place Montpellier was held to a goalless draw at Lorient; striker Aleksandar Pesic scored his fifth goal this season to give Toulouse a 1-0 win over Reims, and last-place Metz failed to win for an 11th straight league match in a 0-0 draw with Nice.Marseille wasted an early chance to go ahead when defender Brice Djadjedje missed the target with a free header in the 10th minute after Gignac picked him out with a cross to the far post.Gignacs goal settled a tense match where Payet was Marseilles most impressive performer, and he went close shortly before the break with a rising drive from the right that just cleared the crossbar.Midfielder Alaixys Romao missed the chance to make it 2-0 with 15 minutes remaining, blazing over from close range after Payets free kick caused confusion in Evians defence.In Sundays other games, Saint-Etienne goes to Normandy to play Caen and Bordeaux faces Guingamp. 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