WASHINGTON, D.C. – It has been a long, trying season for the Washington Wizards. Last night, though they perhaps had their most thrilling, satisfying win of the season as they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 106-101.

Down by double digits at halftime, things looked bleak for the Wizards. However, they used a spirited second half to stun the Lakers. Roger Mason’s 14 points – and four three pointers — spurred an extended rally to send the Wizards to their ninth win of the season.

For a team that has struggled throughout the season and issues with chemistry, on Wednesday night, they played together as a team to put away a contender in the Western Conference.

“We had guys that just didn’t quit. It was evident in the third quarter and we finished hard,” commented Mason.

Before the Wizards comeback, a sold-out Verizon Center might as well have been christened Staples Center – where Lakers (23-16) play their home games – West.

The arena, which was filled with a plethora of Lakers fans, chanted “MVP” throughout the first half to support superstar Kobe Bryant – who scored 20 points in that period.

However, the crowd would witness the stunning rise of the Wizards (9-29) late in the contest, coming back from a twenty-one point deficit quickly to shut down the Laker admirers.

For Washington, Nick Young scored 19 points off the bench and had six assists – a career high for helpers. Trevor Booker chipped in with 18 points and 17 rebounds; Kevin Seraphin and Jordan Crawford each had 14 points, JaVale McGee had 10 points and 12 rebounds.  John Wall struggled on the night, only scoring four points and nine assists; however, he hit several critical free throws to help the Wizards down the stretch.

Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 30 points, but only shot 1-of-10 in the final period. Pau Gasol had 19 points and 15 rebounds. Andrew Bynum also had 19 points.

After the game, Washington interim coach Randy Wittman commented on his team’s performance.

“Start to finish, even when we got down 21, we were doing the right things, we were doing them the right way. We were doing them hard and stayed in the game. That’s all we did. Then we started making some shots and the crowd got into it.”

Nick Young added, “We came out with energy. We knew we were in a little slump but we had to pick up each other and fight. It was an amazing atmosphere tonight. We had to come out with the right attitude playing against the best team.”

The Wizards fell behind to the Lakers, 29-21 in the first quarter and did their best to stay in the game in following period. At times throughout the first half, the Wizards just seemingly could not stop the superior Lakers, and the disparity of talent between the two teams was clearly evident.

Sadly for Washington, Bryant and his Los Angeles squad would continue to roll in the second quarter. The Wizards would be plagued by mistakes, sloppy play and a porous defense and the Lakers took full advantage of the situation. The Lakers were also helped by many trips to the charity stripe.

Bryant’s long three-pointer with about a five-and-half minutes remaining in the quarter put Los Angeles up 50-35. They took as much as a seventeen point edge in the period before closing out the half up, 64-49.

However, in the second half, the Wizards stunned the Lakers in a serious way.

Metta World Peace’s three-pointer put Los Angeles up by twenty, 71-51 at the 9:27 mark, but the Wizards started to chip away at the Lakers’ advantage.  Nick Young’s three-pointer with 2:30 left in the period, brought Washington within eleven of the lead at 81-70. More importantly, it gave them some hope.

The Lakers – who seemingly dominated the entire game to that point –  inexplicably folded down the stretch.

The Wizards used a 16-3 run to stage a comeback  to finish up the third quarter. From there, that breathed life back into fans of the home team and stunned the legions of those who showed up in purple and gold.

It seemed that at that juncture that the Wizards got aggressive, played some stellar defense, tightened up their game and competed when it mattered.

Mason’s three-pointer with a little more than a minute left in the period cut their deficit to single digits, as the Wizards trailed 83-75.

The rally continued. Washington clawed all the way back to within two of Los Angeles’ advantage, 83-81 at the end of the quarter, via back-to-back layups by Booker and Young.

The Wizards’ good fortune continued in the fourth quarter as they took an 87-83 lead thanks to back-to-back three pointers by Mason with a little more than ten-and-half minutes remaining; however, the Lakers tied the game at 89 off a Matt Barnes dunk at the 8:30 mark.

After that, the two teams fought for the win. The Wizards took a 98-92 lead off another Mason three-pointer – his fourth of the game – with 4:50 left in the game.

The Lakers – with less than three minutes in the contest – fought back and took a 99-98 advantage off a Bynum layup; however, the Wizards continued to hustle and regained the advantage, 102-99 off a Seraphin hook shot, followed less than a minute later up with a thunderous  dunk.

The Wizards held their ground and emerged victorious. Young’s two-pointer with 43 seconds sealed the deal.

From there, the Washington fans serenaded the Lakers – and their legion of followers – with a “beat L.A. chant” to support the home team. They took a 105-101 lead with 12.5 seconds left after two Wall foul shots and didn’t look back.

Wall said, “We were down 20, but anytime you are down in this league there is a chance that you can come back. The second group just gave us the spark we needed. Players like Kevin Seraphin and Trevor Booker did a great job battling down low for us.”

He added, “This game allowed both of those players to play physical and be the aggressors. We sensed that the momentum was changing in the game when a lot of the calls were going in our favor. In the second half we wanted to be in the game and we needed the crowd to be on our side.”

The Wizards’ next game is on Saturday night as they face the Portland Trail Blazers at home.