Up 19 in the fourth against Charlotte, Collins risks leaving MJ on the bench for the entire period, narrowly escaping with a win by three points.

Michael Jordan skies for one of his rare dunk attempts in the second quarter.





by Fred Schiebel, Head Writer


WASHINGTON - Ah, the thrill of gambling.

Doug Collins wrote a check his team almost couldn't cover, giving Michael Jordan the fourth quarter off with the Wizards up 19. It turned a blowout into an interesting battle once again, as Washington barely escaped with an 89-86 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at the MCI Center. Washington snapped Charlotte's five game win streak, while winning their own fourth in a row.

Collins insisted he didn't have any money bet on the spread. "It wasn't the safest thing to do, I know that," he said. "But Michael's been playing so many minutes, and that was a golden opportunity for him to actually get a rest for once. Luckily it all worked out in the end."

The Washington bench had inherited a ten point lead at the end of the third quarter, and to the dismay of just about everybody in the building, they ended up extending the gift by nine points. At that point, the score was 84-65 with 8:43 to play.

"Just about any coach worth their salt wouldn't have put him [Jordan] back in at that point," Collins said. "I left him out knowing that if things got close again then sure, I'd put him back in the game. As the minutes went by and he got colder and colder, the more I was reluctant to do it."

From there, Charlotte slowly whittled down the deficit. Hornet point guard Baron Davis, who had 11 points in the quarter, hit a three to trim the lead to 14 with six minutes to go. A little too close for comfort, but still a sizeable advantage.

Inspired, the Hornets then went into desperation mode, hurling threes on every possession and scouring for the long rebounds. The Wizards only scored five more points in the period, stymied by Charlotte's fierce defense and hustle. As the lead dwindled away, Collins and Jordan were seen arguing on the bench.

"I wouldn't call it an argument, I'd say it was a semi-emotional disagreement," Jordan said, splitting hairs. "I know Doug wants to rest me whenever possible, but this team needs every win it can get, especially with the terrible start we had. I wanted to go back in and ensure us the best possible chance to secure the win."

He ended up relenting to Collins' decision. "I told Michael, look, our young guys have got to go through these kinds of situations in order to grow. It's kind of like giving the car keys to your kid for the first time. You just got to cross your fingers and hope they don't wreck the thing."

Wrecked the thing they almost did. Still ahead 89-83 with less than a minute to go, Davis hit his third three pointer in the quarter with 10.3 seconds left to cut the lead down to three, offically sending the Wizards into full blown panic mode. Hubert Davis (in only his first game back, no relation to Baron) took the inbounds pass and was ferociously swarmed by the Hornet defense trying to get a clean steal. Bawbling the ball a bit in the pack, he regained control, finding Richard Hamilton for a pass, who then ran the ball into the frontcourt right before a ten second violation was called.

Talk about your narrow escape. "I think I got a few new ulcers tonight," Collins laughed.

The Hornets were playing without Jamal Mashburn, who was put on the injured list earlier in the day with a pulled groin. That might've been good news for Jordan, if not for the fact that Charlotte instead started Stacey Augmon in his place, a defensive specialist with arms that get mistaken for trees. But Jordan was unfazed, scoring 18 points on 8 of 18 shooting in only 26 minutes. He also figured out how to get 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals somehow within the shorter timespan.

RIchard Hamilton was the leading scorer for Washington, pouring in 30 points. Baron Davis led the Hornets with 32. Elden Campbell chipped in 10 points and 14 rebounds, and P.J. Brown had 8 points and 18 rebounds.

"It was tough going without Mash," Davis said. "We were off-kilter at times, trying to figure out how to play without our best scorer. Hopefully he heals quick and in the meantime we learn how to win without him with us."

They didn't look too off-kilter in the first quarter, coming out with a 26-17 lead over Washington and shooting 58 percent from the field, while holding the Wizards to 32 percent. The fourth quarter wasn't Jordan's first big rest of the night: he picked up two quick fouls in the first few minutes of the game, and had to sit down for the rest of the period.

"I joked with [referee] Joe Derosa, don't you know who that is?" Collins chuckled. "You just sent Sinatra to the bench. I'm surprised the crowd stayed to watch."

Hamilton got in foul trouble as well. When both returned at the beginning of the second quarter, both got hot at the same time, and the Wizards exited the first half with a 49-42 lead, a sixteen point swing in their favor. Jordan had 10 points at that point, Hamilton 17.

"We're playing off each other better," Hamilton said. "Every game we seem to gel a little more. And also since we're winning, we're having fun, we're more relaxed. It's easier to play that way."

Just think of how relaxed Collins would've been if the Wizards would have lost this one. In all the history of the world, benching your boss has probably never been a good move.