Wizards beat Bobcats without Arenas

Caron Butler helped make up for the loss of leading scorer Gilbert Arenas at least for a night, scoring 39 points to lead the Washington Wizards over the Charlotte Bobcats 114-111 in overtime Wednesday.

With the Wizards receiving the jolting news that their star will be out for about three months after Arenas underwent knee surgery earlier in the day, Butler scored seven points in overtime, including two free throws with 15.5 seconds left to give Washington a three-point lead.

After Gerald Wallace threw up an airball from 3-point range, DeShawn Stevenson missed two free throws with 2 seconds left, giving Charlotte another chance to tie.

But Matt Carroll hit the side of the backboard on a desperation 3-point attempt the buzzer, sending the Wizards to their sixth straight win.

Antawn Jamison had 27 points and 12 rebounds for Washington, which continued its turnaround from an 0-5 start amid the concern over Arenas' left knee.

Raymond Felton had 27 points and 12 assists, Wallace scored 25 points and Emeka Okafor had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Bobcats, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.

After Butler missed a fadeaway jumper at the end of regulation, Jamison and Butler scored two quick buckets in OT to put the Wizards ahead to stay, and they narrowly avoided blowing the same six-point lead they wasted in the final 2 minutes of regulation.

A couple of hours before tipoff, the Wizards learned Arenas had undergone surgery on his left knee earlier in the day and would miss three months.

It came as a surprise. Arenas spent the night before laughing on the bench watching his teammates rout Philadelphia. Arenas had talked about coming back by later in the week.

But an MRI exam Wednesday morning revealed a cartilage tear. Players found out when they got to the arena.

"I didn't know it was that long," center Brendan Haywood said when asked before the game about losing Arenas for three months.

With Haywood sitting out with a sprained left ankle suffered a night earlier, the Wizards dressed only nine players.

The Bobcats received their own scare late in the second quarter when their leading scorer, Wallace, had a frightening fall to the floor after blocking Butler's driving layup. Wallace sustained a rib contusion and lay on the floor for several minutes, but returned for the start of the third quarter.

It didn't affect him. Wallace, who missed eight of 11 shots in the first half, shot 7-for-8 in the third quarter, including two 3-pointers as the Bobcats rallied from a seven-point deficit to get within 79-78 entering the fourth.

The Bobcats rallied late in regulation, with Felton's two free throws with 22.5 seconds left tying the game.

Notes:@ Arenas initially injured his knee last season against the Bobcats when he collided with Wallace. ... Wallace clanged a breakaway dunk off the back of the rim in the second quarter. ... Haywood hopes to return Friday against Golden State. ... Wizards director for player development Ed Tapscott, the Bobcats' first team president until he resigned last year instead of accepting a demotion, attended the game. ... The Wizards' NBA-record streak of seven straight games of scoring more points than the previous game was snapped.