John Wall scored 19 points and Bradley Beal added 11 points in his return from injury to help the Washington Wizards beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 106-101, on Wednesday night.
Beal came off the bench and played 22 minutes in his first game since Dec. 9, missing a total of 15 games because of a stress reaction in his lower right leg.
Ramon Sessions added 15 points and Jared Dudley had 13 for Washington, including two late 3-pointers to help preserve a third consecutive win.
Khris Middleton scored 25 points to lead Milwaukee, which allowed 36 points off a season-high 27 turnovers in its fourth loss in the last six games.
Greg Monroe added 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who erased a 19-point second-quarter deficit to take the lead by the end of the third.
Milwaukee got within three in the final moments before Beal hit a pair of free throws with 1.6 seconds to play.
Washington trailed, 74-71, after three quarters before opening the fourth on a 22-6 run.
Sessions’ dunk off Nene’s outlet feed gave the Wizards a 75-74 lead. Later in the spurt, Wall kicked out to Sessions for an open 3-pointer before driving the lane and flushing home a strong, left-handed dunk that made it 93-80 with 5:29 left.
Milwaukee scored the last 11 points of the third quarter to take its first lead since the opening period.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 13 points in the quarter. Middleton’s turnaround jumper put the Bucks up, 72-71, and Rashad Vaughn drove and dished to John Henson for a dunk in the final seconds.
Wizards forward Otto Porter left the game with 6:46 remaining in third quarter with a sore right hip.
Wizards coach Randy Wittman said center Marcin Gortat was day to day after missing his second game with an infection in his left knee.
Gortat had to be hospitalized for treatment.
“I don’t think he’s in there now,” Wittman said. “This afternoon, they were giving him intravenous antibiotics to get it quicker into his system.”
Wittman said it’s not clear yet if Beal’s injury will lead to a restriction on his minutes for the rest of the season or even beyond.
“I think as he gets back in the flow of it, the doctors and him will make that decision,” Wittman said.
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