University of North Carolina Athletics
Stackhouse Slams The Door On Lakers
November 9, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov 9, 2002
By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
AP Sports Writer
Jerry Stackhouse took the ball as the final seconds ticked down and couldn't believe his eyes.
He wasn't being guarded and had a clear path to the basket with the Washington Wizards trailing by one with 2.9 seconds left.
So, Stackhouse took a few steps and dunked as the buzzer sounded, giving the Wizards a 100-99 home victory Friday night and sending the Los Angeles Lakers to their third straight loss.
"Two-point-nine seconds is a lot of time," Stackhouse said. "I felt like I had time to get there. If I saw somebody under there I might have pulled up, but nobody was there."
The dunk was reviewed by officials under the NBA's new instant replay rule. The tape showed Stackhouse made the dunk two-tenths of a second before the buzzer.
"You can't let your man just back-cut you to the basket and get a layup to win the game," Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant said. "That's just basic basketball. That shouldn't happen. You've got to stay between your man and the ball, period."
Stackhouse threw an inbounds pass to Bryon Russell, who gave it back to Stackhouse on a give-and-go. Using Michael Jordan as a decoy, Stackhouse went right in for the winning basket.
"Everybody was looking at me as if I was an option," Jordan said. "I was more or less a decoy."
Stackhouse scored 29 points, and Jordan had a season-high 25.
Los Angeles had just taken its first lead at 99-98 on Robert Horry's 3-pointer at the 2.9-second mark.
The Lakers' comeback was aided by two missed free throws by Jordan in the final 20 seconds. He also fouled Rick Fox, who returned from a six-game suspension for a preseason fight, for a three-point play with 25 seconds left.
Bryant, who had 27 points, blocked a baseline jumper by Jordan to help spur a 10-0 run as the Lakers overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal is still out with a toe injury, and said that he needs another "one or two weeks" to recover from the surgery he had in September.
"I'm not pleased with the way we're playing," Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson said. "There's a limitation to how well we can play without Shaquille."
