The pass from John Wall was perilous, a floater that the Phoenix Suns’ hawkish perimeter defense could’ve easily intercepted, but it reached its target. Waiting for it was Bradley Beal, who gathered the ball with 11 seconds on the shot clock and began pounding the ball on the Verizon Center floor at the three-point line, the arena volume amplifying with each dribble. He crossed it one way and then another before bursting past Eric Bledsoe.  On his way to the basket, he saw Ramon Sessions, already 18 points to his name, in the corner, unguarded. But this Beal, the one the Wizards have waited to resurface for two weeks, did not yield. Instead, he continued his drive, encountered another defender, and tossed in a floater off the glass with 47.9 seconds remaining to put Washington up three points.  Beal added a pair of free throws in the final seconds to close out Washington’s improbable and unsightly 109-106 victory over the Suns with a season-high 34 points.  “It was just my aggression and approach to the game,” Beal said.  [A strange week concludes with a strange game]  With the Wizards leading 108-106 and 11.6 seconds left, Beal fouled Brandon Knight as he hoisted a three-pointer. Knight missed the first of his three shots and made the second when Markieff Morris was called for a delay of game for continuing to move across the lane for rebounding positioning after being warned to stop. It was the second delay of game violation for the Suns, which meant it was a technical foul and the Wizards were given a free throw.  But Beal missed the technical free throw and Knight missed his third freebie down at the other end. The Suns then fouled Garrett Temple, who made 1 of 2 free throws to set up one final chance for Phoenix with 5.9 seconds left. But Bledsoe’s three-pointer was off the mark, sealing the win for Washington, which trailed by 10 points with just over 10 minutes remaining.  “We kept fighting,” Coach Randy Wittman said. “We were diving on the floor and into each other. It was a gutty effort.”  Two days after a puzzling four-point loss to the lowly Los Angeles Lakers, the Wizards (8-9) had 10 available players and a comically thin front court. Starting center Marcin Gortat is in Poland for a family matter. His backup, Nene, is nursing a left calf strain. Drew Gooden III’s right calf is strained. And Kris Humphries, until recently the team’s starting power forward, watched the game in an all-black suit because of a sprained left ankle he sustained Wednesday.  That left three big men: Jared Dudley, Ryan Hollins, and DeJuan Blair. Hollins was the only Wizard taller than 6-9 and started in place of Gortat after joining the team Monday. The 6-7 Blair played 11 minutes after not appearing in Washington’s previous three games and the 6-7 Dudley, who started at power forward, manned center for stretches after having never done it before Tuesday’s triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Wittman was forced to use various undersized frontlines — Dudley, 6-9 Otto Porter Jr., 6-6 Garrett Temple and 6-7 rookie Kelly Oubre Jr. all played either the four or five or both — and closed the game with a lineup of Wall, Beal, Sessions, Temple and Porter. The combination was effective: Washington held Phoenix to eight points and one field goal over the final 7:03, switching on picks and fronting the post. They overcame a six-point deficit over the stretch.  Despite the undersized groups, the Wizards outrebounded Phoenix, 41-35, and tied a season high with 50 points in the paint. John Wall added 17 points, nine assists, and five rebounds, though he also had seven turnovers, while Sessions recorded 18 points on 12 shots off the bench. Bledsoe led the Suns with 22 points.  “I told them if it was a 6-5 and under league, we would be pretty good,” Wittman said.  The Wizards won despite another deluge of turnovers. They committed 23 — the seventh time they’ve tallied at least 21 in a game. But the Suns (8-12), who have lost three straight and seven of their past eight, had 21, resulting in 28 points for the Wizards.  [Gortat to miss at least two games for family emergency]  Beal’s emergence down the stretch was vital. In the six games before he injured his left shoulder, which sidelined him for three games over a two-week stretch, Beal averaged 22.7 points on 47.6 percent shooting from three-point range. In the six games since, the numbers plummeted to 15.6 points and 27.8 percent. Beal insisted he wasn’t hurt and the opportunities were there. He just needed to adjust his mental approach to return to the relentless aggressor he had been to start the season.  He flipped the switch Friday, going 12 of 23 from the field, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, in 38 minutes. The 23 field-goal attempts tied a season high. It was what the Bradley Beal the Wizards have needed.  “I have to be more of a threat,” Beal said. “I can’t just be passive. I can’t just give up the ball that easy. I have to create, whether it’s for me or for a teammate.”  Jorge Castillo writes about the Washington Wizards.
Despte dressing only 10 players, Washington survives another spate of turnovers and a crazy finish to win at home.