Blatche fills in to help lift Wizards

Andray Blatche did a fine job filling in for an injured Caron Butler, and he got plenty of help from Antawn Jamison and others.

Blatche had 19 points and eight rebounds in only his second start of the season, and Jamison finished with 24 points and 20 rebounds Tuesday night, leading the Washington Wizards to a 108-104 overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Chris Bosh led the way with 37 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who trailed by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter. Anthony Parker's high-arching 3-pointer curled into the net as the regulation buzzer sounded, forcing the extra period.

It was only Washington's fifth victory in 21 games without Butler over the past two seasons. The forward, hoping to be among the All-Star reserves announced Thursday, strained his left hip flexor when he fell during an overtime loss at Milwaukee on Sunday.

So Butler was on the sideline in a suit and tie, high-fiving fans after DeShawn Stevenson's fifth 3-pointer of the game put the Wizards ahead 104-98 in overtime. Bosh answered with a 3, but Jamison's tip-in put Washington back up 106-101. After Jason Kapono's 3 with 5.2 seconds to go pulled Toronto within 106-104, Antonio Daniels went 2-for-2 from the line with 4.9 seconds on the clock.

Already managing to play well without Gilbert Arenas since November, the Wizards simply carried on Tuesday, with contributions from all over: Stevenson's 20 points, Daniels' 15, reserve Roger Mason Jr.'s 13 points and six assists, rookie Dominic McGuire's 10 rebounds.

Bosh helped the Raptors — who had won seven of their past nine games — build a lead of as many as 10 points in the first half. But paced by Blatche, Washington opened the second half with a 14-0 run to go up 60-50 and never trailed the rest of the way.

The Wizards tightened their defense during that early second-half stretch: The Raptors started the quarter with four missed shots, two turnovers, an offensive foul and a shot-clock violation.

At the other end, Blatche was exerting himself. The third-year player, who went straight to the NBA from high school, made his second 3-pointer of the season to put the Wizards ahead 56-50. Then he finished a strong drive with a pretty finger-roll layup to make it 58-50. And he capped his personal show by sinking an 18-foot jumper.

That last one got Butler up out of his seat, waving his hands to implore the crowd of 12,905 to cheer louder.

Despite Bosh's brilliance — 21 points, eight rebounds — the Raptors led only 50-46 at halftime, thanks largely to Stevenson. He scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers, including one with under 3 seconds left.

Notes:@ Toronto's Jose Calderon had 23 points and 13 assists. ... Butler missed only one of Washington's first 42 games, but he is expected to miss his second in a row Wednesday, when the Wizards play at Toronto. ... Wizards coach Eddie Jordan was asked whether Butler and Jamison deserve to be selected as All-Star reserves this week. "I haven't campaigned for them, and I won't campaign for them," Jordan said. "Their numbers speak for themselves." ... Toronto, Washington and idle Cleveland all entered the day within a half-game of each other for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The victory pushed the Wizards into a tie with Cleveland (both 24-19), ahead of the Raptors (24-20).