Wizards' Rare Win Is One to Watch

Stackhouse Sits as Team Gets 2nd Victory in Division : Wizards 112, Celtics 102

Jerry Stackhouse sat silently on his seat on the Washington Wizards' bench yesterday as he watched Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes lead his team to a rare Atlantic Division victory.

Washington's 112-102 victory over Boston at MCI Center ended the Wizards' five-game losing streak and loosened the Celtics' grip on the eighth -- and final -- berth in the Eastern Conference playoffs with five games remaining.

Stackhouse, the team's third-leading scorer, watched with his warm-ups on and only contributed an occasional supporting clap as the Wizards (24-53) defeated a division opponent for just the second time in 22 chances this season.

What made Stackhouse's absence yesterday suspicious was what happened leading up to it. Washington Coach Eddie Jordan said before the game Stackhouse "is as tough as they come and not just for our team, but in the league."

But after the game, Jordan said the forward did not play because rookie forward Jarvis Hayes was activated from the injured reserve list yesterday and that Stackhouse's availability for the team's five remaining games is day-to-day.

"Pretty much after the Minnesota game [this past Friday] we felt he was wearing down and he didn't have a lot of strength in his legs," Jordan said.

Stackhouse hastily left the locker room, saying, "What's there to talk about?"

Jordan's comments came three days after Stackhouse said that the surgery on his right knee that sidelined him for 51 games, as well as the team's mounting losses, had caused "regression" to his career. He said he would rather not play the rest of the season so he could properly heal, but said he would play because the organization's management insisted he compete. Stackhouse started in Washington's 91-73 loss at Minnesota on Friday, and had 14 points and five rebounds in 41 minutes.

Stackhouse, 29, was supposed to be part of the Wizards' foundation after he signed a two-year, $18 million extension that puts him under contract through the 2006-07 season. But the swingman hasn't lived up to those expectations this season, averaging 14 points per game -- a career low -- to go along with 4.1 assists, while playing in a career-low 23 games.

The bulk of the scoring came from the team's back court of Arenas (game-high 32 points) and Hughes (31 points). Hughes came back to the starting lineup after missing Friday's game in Minnesota because of a sore Achilles' tendon.

Arenas scored 25 of his points in the second half -- including 12 in the final period -- and none more important than his three-pointer from the left wing that gave the Wizards a 109-99 lead with 1 minute 25 seconds remaining. Arenas was fouled on the shot by Boston's Marcus Banks, turning it into the ninth four-point play in franchise history, and the first since Rod Strickland's six years ago.

Hughes scored 16 of his points in the second half, helping Washington rally from a five-point halftime deficit to take an 82-80 lead entering the final quarter. Though Boston pulled to 91-90 with 6:38 remaining, Arenas immediately answered with a three-pointer from a few feet beyond the top of the arc to extend the lead to 94-90, and Boston (35-42) would not get any closer.

"We play off each other pretty well," Hughes said. "I know when it's time to get him going, and he knows when it's time to get me going. When we're making shots it gets everyone else involved and allows everything to open up for us."

Washington forward Kwame Brown, who did not play in his team's losses against New Jersey and Minnesota because of a sprained left ankle, came back to the starting lineup and had seven points and a game-high eight rebounds in 36 minutes.

Boston, which leads Cleveland by 21/2 games for the final playoff spot in the East, was led by Banks, who scored a team-high 25 points, and guard Ricky Davis and forward Paul Pierce, who each added 17 points.

"It is disappointing, especially when we had a lead by 11 points and then there is a letdown, but that is what happens when you don't have the ability to control Gilbert Arenas and Larry Hughes," Pierce said. "Their guards really took over the game."

Wizards Note: The team placed Chris Whitney on the injured list with an injured right foot.