NEW YORK (AP) Kurt Thomas put aside his anger about losing his starting job and drew a key charging foul with 15.6 seconds left to help New York beat Washington.

Allan Houston tied his season high with 39 points, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks ran almost every play for him.

Larry Hughes had 19 points for Washington, but made two poor plays on the offensive end in the final 16 seconds _ committing a charging foul against Thomas, then taking an off-balance 2-pointer and looking for a bailout call with his team trailing by three.

Thomas, coming off the bench for the first time since April 8, 2001, finished with seven points and six rebounds in 28 minutes, while starting power forward Antonio McDyess had 12 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes _ his most playing time since returning eight games ago following a knee injury.