Charlotte, N.C. ? The play broke down, and Portland nearly lost the ball, so it was up to Nick Van Exel to bail out the Trail Blazers.

That’s exactly what he did.

Van Exel’s 29-foot desperation heave at the buzzer gave Portland an 80-77 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.

“I was expecting to get the ball. But with the way they defended it was taking away a couple of options, and we had to improvise,” Van Exel said.

Van Exel was trapped near midcourt on the final possession before throwing a pass on the left sideline to Derek Anderson. He flipped the ball through a double-team back to Van Exel, who drained an off-balance three-pointer from the left wing after going 7-for-40 in the past four games.

“I kept calling (Anderson’s) name,” Van Exel said. “He had the vision to look at the clock. Usually a guy would just shoot it. He realized he had time and kicked it out.”

It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Bobcats — and the second in a row on a three at the buzzer. Sunday, Tim Thomas got a friendly roll on a three-pointer to give New York a 102-99 victory.

“It’s hard to believe that could occur back-to-back, but there it is,” Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. “We made a bad decision, and Van Exel did what the veterans do.”

Joel Przybilla scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and Damon Stoudamire and Ruben Patterson had 17 points each for the Blazers, who ended a three-game losing streak.

Portland won despite playing without leading scorer and rebounder Zach Randolph, who missed his eighth game since January because of recurring pain in his right knee.

Jason Kapono, who had been 0-for-5, hit a three-pointer with nine seconds left to tie the game after the Bobcats trailed by five earlier in the quarter.

“You really have something you can build on because the guys know they’re just one possession away,” Bickerstaff said.

Melvin Ely had 16 points, and Gerald Wallace added 14 for the Bobcats, who shot 38 percent.

But as has been the case with the young expansion team, the Bobcats quickly let the lead slip away. Portland scored the next eight points and built a 71-66 lead with 5:26 to go.

76ers 106, Knicks 105

Philadelphia — Allen Iverson made a nifty pass to Marc Jackson for the winning layup with a second left, and Philadelphia moved back to .500 and into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division. Iverson followed his career-high 60-point game against Orlando on Saturday night with 38 points against New York. He also added 10 assists. Jackson finished with 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Stephon Marbury led the Knicks with 32 points.

Pistons 107, Bucks 83

Auburn Hills, Mich. — Rasheed Wallace had 17 points and 10 rebounds, leading Detroit to a rout. The Pistons won for the eighth time in nine games and completed a dominant 3-0 homestand. In five days, they beat the Lakers, Washington and Milwaukee by an average of 22.3 points. Milwaukee was missing Michael Redd (finger) for the second game in a row. The Bucks had a three-game winning streak snapped. Chauncey Billups also scored 17 points for Detroit, which had six players in double figures. Ben Wallace had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Hornets 98, Wizards 96

New Orleans — J.R. Smith scored 18 points, and Dan Dickau hit a pair of go-ahead free throws with 4.5 seconds left for New Orleans. Gilbert Arenas had 34 points for Washington, but his three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim. Chris Andersen had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, converting an alley-oop dunk and a tip-in on consecutive possessions late in the fourth quarter.

Suns 136, Jazz 128

Phoenix — Amare Stoudemire had 42 points and 12 rebounds, and Steve Nash matched a season high with 18 assists. Quentin Richardson added 22 points, including a three-pointer with 1:21 left that opened a 128-121 lead. Nash scored 19 to help Phoenix (41-12) move a half-game ahead of idle San Antonio for the NBA’s best record.