WASHINGTON — Caron Butler performed the kind of heroics usually reserved for Gilbert Arenas, dunking with 2.2 seconds remaining last night to give the Washington Wizards a 99–98 victory over the Knicks.

With the Knicks smothering Arenas, Butler took a feed from De-Shawn Stevenson and put home the one-handed slam to give the firstplace Wizards their ninth straight home win and a half-game lead over Orlando in the Southeast Division.

Butler had 27 points and a career-high 10 assists. Arenas, who has been stealing headlines with high-scoring games and buzzerbeating game-winners, was shadowed by Stephon Marbury all evening and was held to 16 points on 4–for–14 shooting, and Washington improved to a meager 4–14 when he scores 26 or fewer.

Quentin Richardson scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Knicks, who had won four of five to move into contention in the weak Atlantic Division.

Jamal Crawford’s short jumper in the paint gave the Knicks a 98–97 lead with 12.4 seconds remaining. After Butler’s dunk, the Knicks could only take a quick desperation shot at the buzzer because they were out of timeouts.

The lead changed hands four times in the final 31 seconds. Marbury gave the Knicks their first lead of the fourth quarter when he drove by Antawn Jamison for a layup, and Jamison responded with a runner with 20 seconds left to put the Wizards back up by one.

Coming off a 51-point game on Monday that included a gamewinning 3-pointer at the buzzer, Arenas had a subdued outing in a game that was lackluster until the final minutes. Dogged by Marbury, Arenas made only two field goals in the first half and was 2–for–6 from the field.

Jared Jeffries, playing his first game in Washington since leaving the Wizards as a free agent in the off-season, was booed as he made a pair of first-quarter jumpers, but everybody on the court was overshadowed in the early going by Richardson.

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NETS 92, BOBCATS 85 Vince Carter scored 26 points and had two big baskets late in the fourth quarter as the Nets hung on to beat the Charlotte Bobcats 92–85 last night.

Jason Kidd added 17 points for the Nets, who saw a 23-point third-quarter lead sliced to seven after going nearly five minutes without a point.

But Carter’s reverse layup and fadeaway jumper from the baseline put the Nets ahead 87–78 with 3 minutes left and they survived 11 missed free throws to win for the seventh time in nine games.

The Nets started 11–17, but their recent hot streak has moved them within two games of .500 and to the top of the weak Atlantic Division.

New Jersey cruised early against the undermanned and poorshooting Bobcats, who were without three key players and then lost coach Bernie Bickerstaff to a second-quarter ejection.

But Charlotte, with a mismatched lineup that included little-used Ryan Hollins, fought back under the guidance of Bickerstaff’s son, John-Blair, who at 27 is the youngest assistant coach in the NBA.