Chicago ? Kirk Hinrich and most of his young teammates never have been in an NBA playoff race. They’re about to find out what it’s like.

Hinrich scored 26 points, and rookie Ben Gordon added 20 to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 97-90 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Othella Harrington added 12 points, and rookie Chris Duhon had 11 points and eight assists for the Bulls, who moved four games over .500 — tying their season-high — and clinched their third straight winning month.

“We just want to keep it going. A lot of us hasn’t been in (this) position so far in our careers. How we handle it is going to depend on how well we do,” Hinrich said. “Hopefully, we can stay levelheaded and keep getting better.”

Gilbert Arenas had 36 points for Washington, giving the All-Star 30 or more points for the 12th time in 17 games.

The Wizards led 60-57 midway through the third quarter, but Hinrich made a three-pointer to spark a 9-0 run.

Blazers 102, Hawks 101

Portland, Ore. — Zach Randolph had 31 points and 12 rebounds to lead Portland. Al Harrington had 25 points for the Hawks, who, one day after trading away top scorer and rebounder Antoine Walker, dropped their 18th straight road game.

Randolph’s runner in the lane with nine seconds left was the deciding basket. It came after he missed an ill-advised jumper.

Chicago's Kirk Hinrich, left, battles Washington's Jarvis Hayes for the basketball. Hinrich scored 26 points in the Bulls' 97-90 victory over the Wizards on Friday night in Chicago.

Nets 93, Bobcats 86

East Rutherford, N.J. — Rookie Nenad Krstic returned to the lineup after missing two games because of a viral infection and scored a career-high 25 points to lead New Jersey over Charlotte.

Vince Carter added 28 points, and Jason Kidd had 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the Nets snapped a two-game losing streak by beating the expansion Bobcats for the third time this season.

Nuggets 97, Grizzlies 94, OT

Memphis, Tenn. — Earl Boykins scored 19 points, including a pair of free throws with 10.1 seconds left, as Denver escaped with an overtime victory over Memphis. James Posey’s three-point shot from the right corner in the final seconds was way off the mark, and several tips were unsuccessful as the Grizzlies dropped their fourth straight.

Pistons 111, Lakers 90

Los Angeles — Tayshaun Prince scored 26 points, and Chauncey Billups added 23 to lead Detroit over Los Angeles. The Pistons ran their winning streak to six games. Richard Hamilton had 18 points and eight assists, and Rasheed Wallace had 19 points for the defending NBA champions.

Raptors 106, Bucks 102

Milwaukee — Chris Bosh scored 27 points, and Jalen Rose hit two clinching free throws with 11 seconds left as Toronto defeated Milwaukee.

SuperSonics 98, Timberwolves 88

Seattle — Ray Allen scored 24 of his 32 points after halftime, and Seattle rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to beat Minnesota. Vladimir Radmanovic added 17 points for the SuperSonics, who extended their lead over the Timberwolves in the Northwest Division to 121/2 games.

Celtics 109, Jazz 102

Salt Lake City — Antoine Walker had 24 points and 10 rebounds to help Boston outlast Utah in his first game back with the Celtics since being traded by Atlanta. Ricky Davis dunked to stretch Boston’s lead to 103-95 with 3:07 to play, but the Celtics had to survive a rally.

Pacers 106, Cavaliers 82

Indianapolis — Stephen Jackson scored 28 points, including 11 straight late in the fourth quarter, and Indiana won its season-high fifth straight game by defeating Cleveland. Jermaine O’Neal had 20 points.