The AP reports: Chicago hung on and beat the Washington Wizards 101-99 Monday night to improve to five games under .500, good enough to hold down the eighth and final playoff spot in the generously spread-out Eastern Conference standings. Despite the close call, the Bulls were perfectly content to win for the fourth time in five games and open up a 1 1/2 -game lead over the ninth-place Charlotte Bobcats… Ben Gordon scored all of his 21 points in the second half—including seven in the final 3 1/2 minutes—for the Bulls, who led 88-77 with 6:09 to play. Antawn Jamison scored the game’s next eight points to put the Wizards back in it, and Nick Young made the score 100-99 with a 3-pointer with 3.6 seconds play… Jamison finished with 34 points and 12 rebounds, and Andray Blatche had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards, who have lost five straight.
