Not feeling much fatigue in the tail end of a travel back-to-back, he combines with Hamilton for 60 points against Miami for Washington's second straight win.

Richard Hamilton elevates over Heat guard Anthony Carter.

by Fred Schiebel, Head Writer


WASHINGTON -- He may look more human these days, but don't be fooled.

For the second straight night Michael Jordan was unaffected by fatigue, despite his advanced age and questionable knee, pouring in another 34 points in 36 minutes to lead the Wizards over the Miami Heat 90-85 at the MCI Center. The sequel was doubly impressive, since hours ago they were still in Memphis, not to mention this was his fourth game in six nights.

"I definitely wasn't a hundred percent," Jordan said. "But you got to go out there either way, so why go through the motions? You're still going to be end up tired anyway."

The Wizards as a whole didn't appear to feel any aftereffects of the trip, hitting 53 percent of their shots from the field, one of their best marks of the season -- against one of the league's best defensive teams.

"Our effort was lax tonight," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I don't know what our guys think our record is where they think we can afford to play half-hearted like that. They must all be dyslexic."

This time around Miami didn't shoot anywhere close to the 70 percent they managed in the first quarter of the last meeting between the two teams. Held to a more Heat-like mark of 24 percent for the period and managing a mere sixteen points, the Wizards jumped out to a six point advantage. They were up 41-30 at the half, the Heat making only 27 percent of their shots in the first 24 minutes.

"I'm proud of how hard we worked defensively," coach Doug Collins said. "Coming home from the road, there was the possibility we'd have a big letdown, and we didn't. The guys strapped it on and pushed through. I couldn't be happier."

Washington extended the lead to 18 early in the third, but then just before all was lost Miami's offensive came alive, scoring 30 points in the period to cut the deficit to six, 66-60. The majority of the damage was done by former Wizard Rod Strickland, who was 0 for 7 in the first half, but hit 5 of 6 to score ten points.

"No, I ain't bitter," he said, about his being released last year. "It was just one of those situations that didn't work out. For the last couple of years it was tough, and you just moved on."

The Wizards were still able to keep a healthy distance for most of the fourth, with a Tyrone Nesby dunk making the score 85-78 with 3:33 to play. But the Heat clawed their way back to within three, 88-85 with less than a minute to go. Jordan tried to take control isolated on the wing, but he lost the ball, and fortunately Alonzo Mourning blew the layup at the other end with 30.7 seconds remaining.

"I was a little tired, but I still should've made that shot," said Mourning, who has been struggling with fatigue due to the myriad of medications he's on due to his kidney problems. "This loss is on me, I take full responsibility."

Jim Jackson led Miami with 23 points. Eddie Jones had 22. Richard Hamilton had 26 for the Wizards. In his second game off the injured list, Tyrone Nesby had another solid game for Washington, scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds in only 22 minutes.