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It's over Wizards end Lakers' 19-game win streak
Posted: Friday March 17, 2000 12:37 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michael Jordan enjoyed a victory cigar and sounded like a proud father. Phil Jackson used words like "dismantling" and "aberration." An ambivalent Shaquille O'Neal said the Washington Wizards were just plain lucky. It was, in fact, a stunning upset that ended the fourth-longest winning streak in NBA history. The Wizards, who had won only 20 games all season, stopped the Lakers' bid to win 20 in a row with Thursday night's 109-102 victory. "We feel like we're not supposed to lose any game," Lakers forward Glen Rice said. "And tonight we didn't play up to that ability." In their most spirited performance in two years -- before a crowd that frequently cheered wildly for the visitors -- the Wizards took a 21-point lead in the second quarter and held on after the Lakers rallied to tie it in the fourth. "I'm proud with the way they played," said Jordan, Wizards part-owner and president of basketball operations, attending his first game in three weeks. "But it's always disappointing when they come back the next game and don't play with the same intensity against a team that doesn't have the same magnitude as the Lakers." Which means Jordan is already thinking about Saturday's game against his old team, the Chicago Bulls. What if the Wizards don't win that one? "I may send in my resignation," said Jordan, laughing. Mitch Richmond scored 32 points, Juwan Howard had 14 and Rod Strickland had a season-high 16 assists as the Wizards' big three had a rare game in which they played like their former All-Star selves. "Mitch played big. Rod played the way Rod would two years ago. Juwan was as solid as ever in the post," Washington coach Darrell Walker said. "Everybody was on all cylinders tonight."
Walker decided not to double-team O'Neal, who was fouled mercilessly throughout. O'Neal had 40 points and 12 rebounds and made 10 of 16 free throws. But he also was plagued by foul trouble, as was Kobe Bryant, who fouled out in the game's final second with seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. "We knew Shaq was going to score 40 points," Walker said, "so we just focused on the other guys." O'Neal, however, said the Wizards weren't any different from the team the Lakers beat easily earlier this season. "No, they got lucky," said O'Neal, who missed five of his first six shots while nursing a sore hamstring. "They beat us in the first half, and we beat ourselves in the second half." The Wizards did get some luck in the final minute. Leading 101-98, Richmond forced a jumper that barely scraped the rim. The ball fell right into Howard's hands, giving the Wizards a new 24-second clock. Richmond was then fouled and made two free throws with 17.1 seconds remaining. The Wizards went 6-for-6 from the line after that to keep the margin safe. The Lakers' 19 straight victories trailed only the 1971-72 Lakers (33), the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20) and the 1947-48 and 1948-49 Washington Capitols (20) among the NBA's longest streaks. "It's better [the end] came against a team like the Wizards instead of New York or Miami," Bryant said. "We don't want to give those guys the confidence." Despite their struggles, the Wizards recently took the Knicks and Spurs to overtime, prompting Lakers coach Jackson to warn before the game the Washington was a "team that plays up to the level of the competition." But the crowd wasn't expecting the upset and was positively schizophrenic. The fans cheered more for the Lakers than the Wizards early on, then roared for the underdogs when Washington took the big lead in the second quarter. Then, as Los Angeles rallied in the fourth, the MCI Center reverberated with the chant: "Let's go, Lakers!" In the final minute, the chant became "Beat L.A." The Wizards took command with a 23-3 first-quarter run that almost defied belief. Richmond and Howard were clicking. Washington shot 64 percent in the quarter and committed only one turnover. The Lakers became rattled, making bad passes, bad shots and going more than 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal. "That first half was an aberration as far as I'm concerned," said Jackson, Jordan's former coach in Chicago. "We had a good dismantling. We made a run at them, then Richmond got going, and that made it difficult for us." Down 64-45 at halftime, the Lakers began to rally in the third quarter. O'Neal set the tone on the first possession, blocking Jahidi White's shot and drawing a foul at the other end to start a 15-4 run. Glen Rice then got hot, going 5-for-7 in the period. Howard and Richmond scored only two points apiece in the third as the Lakers closed to 82-73 to start the fourth. Rice's three-point play and a 3-pointer tied the game at 85 with 7:54 to play. Richmond then found his range again, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Wizards back on top for good.
Notes: Before the game, Jackson said he didn't sense any special emphasis from his players on winning 20 in a row. In fact, he said they had their minds on other games. "The NCAA tournament," he said. "I'm trying to get them to focus back on professional ball for tonight." ... The Wizards notched season highs for most points in the first quarter (36) and first half (64).
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