Boris Diaw added 19 points while D.J. Augustin had 17 points and 10 assists for Charlotte, which has won consecutive games for the first time this season. The Bobcats took a 101-96 win in Toronto on Wednesday.
"I think the biggest thing right now with us is turnovers," Wallace said. "You take away the [24] turnovers that we had, and we probably hold them a lot lower than what they had. For us, our defense has always been our backbone and it's working again for us this season."
Andray Blatche led the Wizards with 22 points and nine boards, while rookie John Wall provided 13 points and 11 assists, with just one turnover. Kirk Hinrich scored 14 points with eight assists for Washington, which was coming off Wednesday's win over Houston.
"We wanted to start a streak," Blatche said. "That's the thing about basketball, you want to get a nice winning streak so you can get rid of some of the losses. We're trying to go for the playoffs, and we can't lose to teams like this and expect to make the playoffs."
In a tight final quarter, Blatche followed a JaVale McGee dunk with two baskets to give the Wizards a 77-74 edge with 6:58 left.
However, moments later the Bobcats reeled off 10 consecutive points to go in front for good. Diaw and Augustin each drilled a three in the stretch, which put Charlotte up by an 86-78 score with 3 1/2 minutes to play. The Bobcats led by at least two possessions the rest of the way.
Blatche powered the Wizards in the opening quarter, making 7-of-11 shots and scoring 14 points in helping Washington take a 22-19 edge to the second.
The Wizards continued to play in front, and took a 39-30 advantage on Wall's layup with 4:27 to play. But the Bobcats ended the half on a 12-4 run, capped by a Diaw three that had them within 43-42 at the break.
Charlotte then surged in front in the third thanks to Wallace, who poured in 14 during the period. Ten of those points came in a 13-2 stretch that gave the Bobcats a 59-49 lead midway through the quarter.
Washington, though, stayed close and faced just a 68-65 deficit moving to the fourth.
Charlotte swept last season's four-game series...The Wizards took 86 shots, compared to 69 for the Bobcats. Charlotte, however, held a 48-30 rebounding edge and shot 49.3 percent...Washington shot only 10 free throws, making eight.