WASHINGTON – Larry Hughes matched his season high with 33 points and the Washington Wizards closed out a 112-88 victory over the Nets last night with an 18-0 run.

“It was just a game of spurts,” Vince Carter said. “They started off the game well and had the run. Then it was back and forth, back and forth. At the end of the game they made their run and kept running.”

Hughes had seven assists and five steals to lead the Wizards, who got 3-pointers from seven players and made a franchise-record 14 for the game.

Wizards coach Eddie Jordan enjoyed the team effort: Washington’s reserves outscored New Jersey’s 31-12.

“It was one of our most impressive wins of the season,” Jordan said. “This is more impressive because we are playing against a terrific point guard, and Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter are terrific players, too. But they really aren’t as deep. That is where we really took advantage, their lack of depth.”

Carter had a season-high 31 points on 15-for-23 shooting. Kidd added 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists.

The Wizards took an 84-74 lead early in the fourth quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers by Jared Jeffries and Juan Dixon, and a dunk off a steal by Hayes, who had 19 points, eight re bounds, and seven assists.

Hughes scored 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Wizards pulled away.

Carter had a couple of flashy dunks to lead the Nets to an 11-point lead in the third quarter. Kidd’s jumper put New Jersey ahead 64-53 with 7:19 remaining in the period.

The Wizards answered with a 12-1 run, capped by Arenas’s 3-pointer for a tie at 65.After hitting two more 3’s,Arenas gave Washington a 75-72 lead with a dunk off a steal with 59 seconds remaining in the third.

“They lead the league in forcing turnovers so that is part of their defense,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “We shoot 50% but we have 22 turnovers and they make a franchise record for 3-pointers. We were just not able to get the job done.”

Nenad Krstic scored four points as the Nets opened a 16-6 lead with a 10-0 run. Hughes and Jeffries each scored four points when the Wizards answered with an 11-2 run.

Kidd scored seven points in the Nets’ 9-0 run that opened a 37-31 lead midway through the second quarter. The Wizards used a 9-2 spurt to take a 40-39 lead with 4:22 left in the first half. The Nets answered with a 9-0 run to go up 48-40.Then the Wizards closed the half with an 8-0 burst to tie it 48-all.