RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

NEW YORK (AP) -- A matinee crowd saw the New York Knicks give a lethargic performance that was unworthy of prime time.

New York's five-game winning streak screeched to a halt Saturday afternoon as the Knicks went down without a fight, dropping a 95-83 decision to the Washington Wizards.

"If anybody played soft today, we did," said Latrell Sprewell, who scored just six points on 3-for-11 shooting. "We had only a couple of guys who were working hard."

Mitch Richmond scored 19 points, new starting center Jahidi White had 15 points and 10 rebounds and three other Wizards players scored in double figures as the Wizards gained just their second two-game winning streak of the season.

The loss brought a smattering of boos from a sellout crowd that arrived early for the 1 p.m. ET start, and the Knicks deserved them.

Allan Houston shot just 5-for-14 and tried to do too much by himself down the stretch, and point guards Charlie Ward and Chris Childs combined to shoot 3-for-12 with just seven assists,

As a team, the Knicks had a grand total of just 11 assists -- only one of which came in the fourth quarter -- and were outrebounded 38-31. Starting forwards Larry Johnson and Sprewell combined for just one rebound, by Johnson, while Sprewell also failed to get to the foul line.

"We never had the intensity or energy to get over the hump, and that was the key to the game," Houston said. "It was pretty cut and dried. That was it. At some time you need to kick yourself to know you need the energy, but we never got it."

The Knicks' five-game winning streak had come at the expense of five teams with records at or below .500, prompting coach Jeff Van Gundy to explain that the Knicks were not exactly surging.

It turned out the coach was right, too, as the Knicks played selfishly and never really game themselves a chance down the stretch.

New York's schedule only gets tougher in the week ahead with games against Charlotte, Toronto and Indiana. The Knicks, 15-10 overall, are only 5-6 against teams with winning records.

Washington took the lead for good early in the third quarter and stayed comfortably ahead through the final 20 minutes. Juwan Howard added 12 points, and Rod Strickland and Tracy Murray had 10 each.

"That was a game we could have won and should have won," Knicks center Patrick Ewing said. "We can't make any excuses."

A see-saw game started turning Washington's way early in the third quarter as the Wizards opened with a 17-7 run to take a 61-52 lead, the largest of the game for either team to that point.

A three-point play by Michael Smith upped the lead to 73-61 late in the third period, and the Knicks could only get within six points early in the fourth quarter before the Wizards built their lead back to double digits.

Van Gundy tried almost everything to shake up his team in the fourth, benching Sprewell for three minutes late in the game, taking Ewing out after that and even finishing with a four-guard alignment of Sprewell, Houston, Ward and Childs.

But nothing worked, the Wizards made their foul shots down the stretch (they finished 24-for-29) to win easily.

"That was probably the best we've played defensively all year, and probably the best overall team effort we've had all year both offensively and defensively," coach Gar Heard said.

Houston led New York with 20 points and Ewing had 18.

Noted
White, who replaced Isaac Austin in the starting lineup earlier in the week, held his own against fellow Georgetown alumnus Ewing. ... Knicks general manager Scott Layden said at halftime that he would like to keep the team intact rather than make a major trade. ... The Wizards shot 49.3 percent. They have reached 50 percent just once all season. ... The Knicks haven't had a six-game winning streak since 1996-97.