RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

BOSTON (AP) _ Antoine Walker scored 27 points as the Boston Celtics beat the Washington Wizards 97-92 Wednesday night in an exhibition game.

Paul Pierce added 12 points, and Vitaly Potapenko had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics.

Juwan Howard led the Wizards with 24 points. He tied the game twice in the closing minutes before Potapenko's hook shot with 1:01 remaining put Boston ahead for good.

Rookie Richard Hamilton added 19 points for Washington.

The Celtics used a 10-5 run to take an 85-79 lead with 5:25 remaining, but the Wizards chipped away and tied the game 87-87 on Tracy Murray's second straight 3-pointer.

Chris Whitney's free throw with 2:39 left gave the Wizards an 88-87 lead, but Walker hit a 3-pointer to give the Celtics a 90-88 advantage.