CHICAGO – Kirk Hinrich scored 26 points and rookie Ben Gordon added 20 to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 97-90 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Othella Harrington added 12 points and rookie Chris Duhon had 11 points and eight assists for the Bulls, who moved a season-high four games over .500.

Gilbert Arenas had 36 points for Washington, giving the All-Star 30 or more points for the 12th time in 17 games.

The Wizards led 60-57 midway through the third quarter, but Hinrich made a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 run. Gordon set up Antonio Davis for an easy dunk, and the next time down Gordon hit a jumper for a 66-60 lead. Chicago never trailed again.

Hinrich hit a jumper to make it 85-70 with 7:13 left, but the Wizards made a game out of it and pulled to 90-88 on Antawn Jamison’s 3-pointer with 1:00 left.

Washington’s Michael Ruffin was fouled and went 1-of-2 at the free throw, cutting the Chicago lead to 92-89, but Hinrich found Antonio Davis to make it 94-89 with 25.5 seconds left.

Trailing 55-46 early in the third quarter, the Wizards outscored the Bulls 14-2 in a three minute span. Jared Jeffries had a three-point play, Jamison made a 3 and Brendan Haywood had a basket to give the Wizards a 60-57 lead midway through the quarter. Arenas had nine points in the span.

The Bulls opened the second quarter by outscoring the Wizards 20-5. Gordon scored 10 points in the span. He started it with a 3, then converted a four-point play when he was fouled by Ruffin on his 3-point field goal. Harrington capped it off with a jumper, giving Chicago a 42-29 lead with 5:41 left in the second quarter.

Gordon scored 12 points in the half for the Bulls and Hinrich added 10. Arenas scored 20 points for Washington in the first half on 10-of-17 shooting, while Jamison shot 3-of-13 and scored seven points.

Jamison finished with his 22nd double-double of the season. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Haywood added 13 points for Washington.

Notes: Wizards guard Larry Hughes did not dress for Friday’s game. He has missed 18 games with a broken right thumb suffered on Jan. 15 against Phoenix. He was activated from the injury list Wednesday, but also didn’t play in Washington’s 93-83 victory over Memphis that evening. Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan expects Hughes to play Sunday against Sacramento. “I think that’s the target date,” said Jordan. … Arenas has scored 20 or more points in one half 10 times this season. … The Bulls’ bench outscored Washington’s 42-8.

AP-ES-02-25-05 2313EST