Despite being the most undermanned team in the league at the moment (and MJ turning in his best performance yet), Philly cruises to an easy victory in Washington's home opener.



New Sixer power forward Derrick Coleman looked to do lots of damage against the Wizards Saturday night. 



by Fred Schiebel, Head Writer

WASHINGTON -- Now THIS was absolutely faith shaking.

The Madison Square Garden Massacre on opening night shocked. Losing to the Hawks, no matter how allegedly improved they're supposed to be, wasn't an easy pill to swallow either.

But this... this?

The Wizards lost their first game at the MCI Center to an Allen Iverson-less, Eric Snow-less, Aaron McKie-less Sixers, 102-89 in front of a home crowd whose hearts turned from  ravenous to cavernous in a matter of a couple of hours. Michael Jordan had 30 points and seven rebounds in his finest outing so far, but it got his team  no closer to a win in its third game of the season. A season that, for all intents and purposes, already almost feels like it's over.

The night did not start out well, despite the intense welcoming roar of thousands of Washington fans who still thought they had reason to believe. The Wizards missed their first seven shots, finishing with an inept 22% field goal percentage by the end of the quarter, somehow finding a new horrendous bottom  to crash down into.

Jordan began weakly as well, missing his first six attempts himself  before connecting on a twenty footer from the left wing. He would not be deterred on this night, however. Still looking for his shot at every chance he could, he then drove down the lane on the following play to cut the Sixer lead to 12-8. Afterwards he somehow led a fastbreak, for awhile anyway, fading under the rim  in a gathering crowd to sink another deuce.

The Sixers, who controlled the action all game long, upped their lead from nine at the end of the first quarter to sixteen early in the second. Jordan returned a few minutes in, finishing the half 5 for 11 from the field for 13 points, propelling the Wizards up so they were back down by only four. Starting point guard Chris Whitney, who quietly went 0 for 7 in the last game against the Hawks, was 0 for 6 by the break. Richard Hamilton somehow still remained in his horrific slump, hitting only 2 of 9 of his shots.

"I've rarely seen anything like it," Doug Collins said. "If our backcourt could just be reasonably terrible, we might give ourselves a good chance to win."

Collins benched Whitney for the start of the second half, having Jordan work from the point guard position instead and inserted Courtney Alexander into the lineup. The lead climbed back up to eleven, increased up to sixteen after Jordan airballed a three pointer, and settled at the end of the third to 12.

The fourth eventually was a bit closer than the first two games. Down 84-70 with about five and half minutes to go, the Wizards didn't give up, cutting the deficit down to seven with a Hamilton corner three, with an opportunity to trim the lead down to five at the three minute mark. It ws the closest they would come however, and the Sixers woke up again to keep the game out of reach.

"I know our team  was thinking this would be an easy win, even for us, because of all the injuries they have," Doug Collins said. "I tried to tell them those guys were seeing the same kind of opportunity to finally get a win on us, since we're struggling too. And I don't think they were banking on easy, considering how banged up they are. They fought hard."

Sixer reserve Raja Bell, starting for Iverson, had the game of his life with 27 points and 10 rebounds. The Sixers new roster additions also looked formidable; Derrick Coleman had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Matt Harpring had 22 points and 10 rebounds.

While Jordan looked improved, he still turned the ball over much more than he used to back in his glory days, committing another five errors this time around. Hamilton had a much better 2nd half, ending up 9 of 26 from the field with 28 points. Courtney Alexander, who many fans thought should start after his 24 point performance in the Garden, hit on only 1 of 10 of his attempts.

Afterwards Jordan appeared to take no solace in his personal improvement. He took long pauses before answering any questions reporters asked him, and his eyes never left the floor.

"Obviously this isn't how I wanted to see this year start out," he said. "But life isn't like that. Even my years in Chicago things didn't go smoothly a hundred percent of the time. All you can do when things don't go your way is keep your head down and keep plugging away at the goals you want to accomplish."

Sounds like next practice is going to be a doozy.