WASHINGTON – Washington Wizards guard Larry Hughes scored a season-high 43 points Saturday night, leading the NBA’s second-worst team to a rare 94-87 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Wizards broke a four-game losing streak that included a Friday night road loss to Orlando, the league’s worst team. Hughes scored 28 points in the first half, shouldering the load by necessity after the pregame news that Gilbert Arenas would be sidelined three to six weeks after re-aggravating an abdominal injury.

The Wizards won their first game against an Atlantic Division team this year, ending an 0-9 streak. They also ended a six-game losing streak against the 76ers.

Hughes made 17 of 29 shots, seven of eight free throws and had five steals and a key offensive rebound in the final two minutes. He finished one point shy of his career high of 44 points.

Glenn Robinson scored 22 points to lead the 76ers. Allen Iverson scored 15 points but had nine turnovers, playing despite injuring his left shoulder in the third quarter of Friday night’s victory over New Jersey. Iverson has also been fighting flulike symptoms.

Knicks 94, Bucks 88

NEW YORK – The New York Knicks snapped their four-game losing streak and might have saved coach Don Chaney’s job Saturday night by shutting out the Milwaukee Bucks in the final three minutes of a 94-88 victory.

Kurt Thomas had a season-high 28 points and 16 rebounds, Allan Houston scored 26, Stephon Marbury had 14 points and 11 assists and Penny Hardaway added 14 points off the bench.

New York snapped Milwaukee’s five-game winning streak and beat the Bucks for the first time in three tries this season.

Two nights after the crowd at Madison Square Garden chanted “Fire Chaney” several times during a blowout loss to Houston, the fans returned to the usual practice of cheering for their team. Their loudest chant was “Dee-fense,” and the Knicks listened down the stretch. Damon Jones dunked on a fast break to tie the game at 80 with 6:65 remaining before Toni Kukoc – who had already committed three turnovers in the quarter – missed consecutive long jumpers.

Timberwolves 83, Heat 77

MINNEAPOLIS – Kevin Garnett had 28 points and 17 rebounds for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who earned a tough 83-77 victory over the short-handed Miami Heat on Saturday night.

Sam Cassell added 18 points for the Timberwolves, who have won eight straight games at home and 15 of their last 18 overall.

Brian Grant had 17 points and nine rebounds and Lamar Odom chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, who dropped to 4-16 on the road and 1-9 on the road against the West. Their next four games (Sacramento, Utah, L.A. Clippers and Denver) are on the road against Western Conference teams.

Ervin Johnson tied a season high with 10 points for Minnesota, which played one of its least impressive games in the last six weeks but was nonetheless relieved with a win after a scrappy effort by Miami.

Spurs 89, Pacers 88

SAN ANTONIO – Hedo Turkoglu forced overtime with a 3-pointer, then made two baskets in the extra period to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 89-88 victory over Indiana on Saturday night.

Turkoglu, who finished with 15 points, missed a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in overtime and a long rebound came out to the Pacers’ Ron Artest.

Artest, who scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half, started to take the ball upcourt, but then tried to call a timeout as time expired.

Indiana coach Rick Carlisle stormed onto the court to argue that some time was still on the clock. When the officials stuck to their call, Carlisle gave them a dismissive wave as he walked off.

Bulls 89, Hornets 84

CHICAGO – Jamal Crawford scored 20 points, Eddy Curry added 19 and the Chicago Bulls defeated the New Orleans Hornets 89-84 Saturday night, despite almost squandering a 22-point lead.

Hornets’ guard Baron Davis scored 29 points, 14 in the fourth quarter.

New Orleans coach Tim Floyd’s second trip back to Chicago wasn’t as pleasant as his first one. The Hornets defeated the Bulls, whom Floyd coached for two seasons, 97-91 on Dec. 6.

Chicago used a 20-4 run in the second quarter to pull away from the Hornets. Kirk Hinrich hit a jumper to give the Bulls a 34-27 lead. After making two nice passes to Curry for dunks, Crawford hit a jumper to give the Bulls a 52-31 lead with 2:09 left in the half.

Chicago’s lead got up to 22 points early in the third quarter, but New Orleans closed the gap in the fourth. Davis scored 14 points during a 28-10 that drew the Hornets to 83-80 with 3:50 left. Davis made a 3 with Hinrich in his face, to cut the Bulls’ lead to 85-83 with 2:16 left.

Jazz 92, Hawks 71

SALT LAKE CITY – DeShawn Stevenson scored 17 points and Utah beat the woeful Atlanta Hawks 92-71, earning coach Jerry Sloan his 800th victory with the Jazz on Saturday night.

Sloan’s career record improved to 894-538 as the Jazz took control in the third quarter and coasted to their fourth straight game. Sloan, who also coached the Chicago Bulls for parts of three seasons, missed Utah’s last two games to be with his wife, Bobbye, after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Hired in 1988 by the Jazz, Sloan is the longest-tenured head coach with the same team in professional sports. He has the sixth-best winning percentage in NBA history (62.7 percent).

Carlos Arroyo scored 14 points and Andrei Kirilenko and Aleksandar Pavlovic each added 12 as Utah improved to 15-3 at home.

The Hawks stayed close for a half, but Stevenson made four jumpers and had a dunk in a 15-6 run that gave Utah a 64-45 lead with 5:24 left in the third quarter.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Dion Glover both had 15 points to lead the Hawks, who went 1-4 on their five-game Western Conference road swing. The Hawks, who have lost their last three games by a combined 83 points, lost their 10th consecutive road game against the Jazz.

A night after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers 113-67, the Hawks weren’t much better against the Jazz as they shot just 39 percent and trailed by as many as 36 points.

In an effort to keep the score respectable, the Hawks went with their starters in the fourth quarter until Stephen Jackson yelled at the referees and was ejected after two technical fouls.

Notes: Matt Harpring, who did not dress for the fourth straight game, is considering surgery for his strained right knee. … Theo Ratliff has blocked a shot in each of last 28 games. … In the third quarter, Abdur-Rahim showed his frustration by knocking the ball from Pavlovic long after a play ended, earning him a technical foul. … Michael Ruffin started his first home game with the Jazz after missing the team’s first 34 games with an abdominal strain.

AP-ES-01-10-04 2348EST