After allowing Cleveland to score 34 points in the first quarter, Washington holds them to 58 for the final three, capturing their sixth win in their last seven games.

Michael Jordan was ready to spring into action again against the Cavs.


by Fred Schiebel, Head Writer


CLEVELAND - He's won just about every time he's played here, and Tuesday wasn't any different.

Michael Jordan was back in town (and in uniform) once again, doling out his latest slice of misery to the area, as the Washington Wizards toppled the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-92 in front of a sellout crowd at Gund Arena -- knocking the Cavs back down under .500, sending them back to the place in standings hell that they've seen way too much of the past few years.

"I've always enjoyed playing here, and tonight was no exception," said Jordan, who was in vintage form for the matchup, scoring 33 points, grabbing six rebounds, and dishing out seven assists. "We haven't been playing well on the road, and we were determined to change that."

Cleveland fans appeared more encouraging to Jordan this time around. When he swished his signature fadeaway a little bit past the free throw line for his first shot of the game, the crowd cheered.

"I don't blame them," Cavs coach John Lucas said. "It's a beautiful shot. Although when I'm playing against him, I find it a lot more beautiful when he misses."

He didn't miss much in the first quarter, scoring nine points on four of six field goal attempts. The Cavs as a whole however were even better, shooting a whopping 76% from the field. Cleveland starters Andre Miller, Wesley Person, Lamond Murray, and Chris Mihm all had six points each, to take an early 34-21 advantage.

"I'm surprised I didn't pull all my hair out," Wizards coach Doug Collins said. "Just a completely lackadaisical effort. Luckily we woke up and strapped it on."

The Wizards held the Cavs to a 35 percent mark in the 2nd, but only shaved three points off the deficit, ending up going into halftime down 55-45. Jordan had 15 points at that point. Cavs forwards Jumaine Jones and Murray had 10 points and three rebounds each.

Washington made its big move in the third. In the opening minutes they exploded out of the gates with an 8-0 run to narrow the score to 55-53. Alas Cleveland retaliated, going back up by eight again just a couple minutes later. Backed by Jordan, who scored 13 points in the period, the Wizards whittled down the deficit once more. A Brendan Haywood jumper from the free throw line with the shot clock expiring (his first basket of his NBA career) sliced the lead to a point, and the Wizards found themselves heading into the fourth only down three, 69-66.

Finally Washington caught up with them in the fourth on a three pointer by Hubert Davis. A couple of minutes later Jordan screened and dished to Davis again for another to take their first lead of the game, 82-81. Miller couldn't convert on a drive to the hoop, and Davis then hit a fifteen footer from the free throw line in transition to boost the lead to three. An eventual Miller jumper sliced the lead back to one.

Wizard Richard Hamilton then got fouled on a drive, making the score 88-85. After a stop, Jordan hit an 18 foot baseline jumper to bump the lead to five, with 2:12 remaining on the clock. Cleveland appeared to lose their composure at this point, hoisting up a wild shot then looking scattered getting back on defense. Hamilton took advantage of the disarray, gliding in for an easy layup, upping Washington's lead to seven, 92-85, with less than two minutes to go

As is often the case, the Wizards got in their own way once more, as Popeye Jones fouled Jumaine Jones on a three point shot. Jones made two of the three free throws, and Cleveland launched an aggressive trap afterwards. Jordan broke it, cutting to the hole for the basket and the foul, but failed to convert the three point play, leaving the score at a still rather comfortable 94-87 with a little over a minute to play.

Things got much tighter when Jumaine Jones hit a three to cut the deficit to only four seconds later.

"Yeah, I was worried we were about to give this one away," Jordan said. "I told the team, fight with everything you've got, we're still in the driver's seat. It was still our game to win or lose."

Jordan found Davis for a jumper on the other end, extending the lead to six. Hamilton then fouled Person on another 3 point attempt with 24.3 seconds to go, sending Collins screaming to his knees. Person only hit two at the charity stripe, meaning the Cavs would need at least two possessions to tie or win the game, essentially killing the Cavs' chances at that point with so little time left.

"I think I'm going to have to dedicate an entire practice to just defending last-second jumpers," Collins said. "Golly. We probably would've already broken the record for fouls on jump shots for a season, if they ever kept that stat."

It's probably not the worst fault this young team has. If it is, the future looks rosy indeed.