ORLANDO, Fla. – Hedo Turkoglu had a season-high 23 points and seven rebounds, helping the Orlando Magic overcome an injury-depleted backcourt and beat the Washington Wizards 91-83 Wednesday night.

The Wizards lost their fifth straight after a 5-1 start and got a rare off night from leading scorer Gilbert Arenas, who finished with 19 points and nine assists but shot 6-of-19. He was averaging 27.5 points and had five 30-point games this season.

Already playing without All-Star forward Grant Hill, Orlando also was missing leading scorer Steve Francis, who injured a rib in a car accident after Saturday’s 98-95 loss to New Orleans. DeShawn Stevenson played with floating cartilage in his left knee sustained in practice Monday, but managed 15 points.

Perhaps more surprising is that the Magic won with little help from Dwight Howard, who came into the game with seven consecutive double-doubles. He spent most of the game in foul trouble and finished with five points and seven rebounds.

Antawn Jamison led Washington with 25 points and 16 rebounds, and brought the Wizards to within four points with a 3-pointer from the corner with 50 seconds left.

But Jameer Nelson answered with a driving layup, putting the Magic up 89-83 with 31 seconds left.

Nelson hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second from the top of the key with a second left, on the last two Magic possessions of the third quarter to push the lead to 10. He finished with a season-high 15 points.

After a seven-point first half, Stevenson sat out the first part of the third quarter with an ice pack on his left knee. He didn’t appear affected when he did finally get back in, nailing a turnaround jumper with about a minute left in the third, and driving repeatedly to the basket in the fourth.

Turkoglu also helped keep the Wizards from rallying in the fourth, making two free throws and hitting a jumper on consecutive possessions to extend the Magic’s lead to 10 points midway through the period.

His off-balance 3-pointer with about 31/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter gave Orlando an 11-point lead.

Notes: Washington shot just 5-of-20 from 3-point range. … The Magic had just one turnover in the fourth quarter after committing 17 through three. … Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber attended the game. … The Wizards activated F Andray Blatche and placed F Awvee Storey on the inactive list.

AP-ES-11-23-05 2143EST

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