WASHINGTON - Jerry Stackhouse may have issues with how the Washington Wizards' offense runs and his part in it down the stretch, but he had no complaints last night, or if he did, he kept them to himself.

Stackhouse, who openly questioned coach Doug Collins' fourth-quarter strategy after Thursday's loss to Detroit, scored a game-high 29 points and dished out a game-high six assists to lead the Wizards past the Atlanta Hawks, 84-76, before a sellout crowd of 20,173 at MCI Center.

Stackhouse scored 15 points in the fourth quarter alone, in which he hit three of four shots from the floor and sank eight of 10 free throws to help Washington (13-16) end a three-game losing streak.

"We were able to get a little cushion and I love those games, where we're able to get a little cushion and force the other team to foul us," said Stackhouse. "More times than not, we're going to come out on top because I feel like we're a good free throw-shooting team, especially in late-game situations where I'm trying to get the ball and close games out."

Tyronn Lue had 13 points for Washington off the bench, including a big three-pointer with 5:52 remaining at the shot clock buzzer that essentially sealed the win. Larry Hughes scored 11 points and Michael Jordan had 10.

Outside of a vicious tomahawk dunk with seven minutes to go in the game, last night's performance was not of the vintage variety for Stackhouse, the eight-year veteran from North Carolina, as he missed two free throws in the final 1:45 and shot just 8-for-21 from the field.

But, as the Hawks, who trailed by 13 in the first quarter, narrowed the gap to one early in the fourth, Stackhouse stretched the lead out to four with a three-pointer at the 10:40 mark. Atlanta (12-17) would never get as close the rest of the way.

"There are a lot of ugly wins in the NBA. This just happened to be one of them," Stackhouse said. "We did what it took when we had to, and now we'll just try to build off of this."

Depending on your perspective, the Hawks and Wizards either looked like two teams battling for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot or two teams struggling to stay out of the lottery.

In other words, Atlanta played just well enough to keep things interesting, slowing down the Wizards with a zone that forced them into jump-shot mode, where they don't always excel.

"Some teams play zone because they don't have outside shooters, and some teams play zone because they don't have good defenders," Stackhouse said. "If you're not good defenders individually, then you won't be a good defender in a zone, and we were trying to pass it around the horn and get good shots for most of the first three quarters.

"But in the fourth quarter, we started penetrating the zone a little bit and getting all the way to the basket. From that, when they collapsed, we were finding some shooters. T-Lue hit some big shots and Kwame [Brown] made some big plays, as well."

Indeed, down the stretch, Stackhouse took over the role that he so desperately wanted to fill in Thursday's 87-82 loss to the Pistons, his former team, when Jordan committed three turnovers in the final five minutes as Washington attempted a comeback.

Afterward, a frustrated Stackhouse lashed out at Collins' fourth-quarter approach. He backed off those comments last night, but Collins took note of Stackhouse's remarks.

"I'm so ultra-sensitive to these guys' feelings these days," said Collins, referring to his decision to give Lue heavy minutes in the fourth quarter at point guard, rather than Hughes. "But we just had to win the game. As a coach, one thing you find out when you're losing is, you'd better walk on eggshells, because guys just get so sensitive."

Meanwhile, the Wizards did just enough to win, against a team that they had easily handled last week in Atlanta, 109-99, particularly on the defensive end, where they allowed the Hawks to shoot just 38 percent.

"Our guys needed that so badly," said Collins. "We got off to such a great start, and our defense was terrific. We played excellent defense ... and I think if you look at our stretches here and the games that we played, even the games that we've lost, we've been playing really good defense."

Next for Wizards

Opponent:Orlando Magic

Site:TD Waterhouse Centre, Orlando, Fla.

When:Tomorrow, 7 p.m.

TV/Radio:Comcast SportsNet/WTEM (980 AM)