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No Bulls Jordan, Wizards blow big lead, but beat Chicago 89-83Posted: Friday January 04, 2002 9:46 PMUpdated: Saturday January 05, 2002 2:46 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Unable to hit a shot and worn out by a sinus infection, Michael Jordan somehow summoned the energy to put an exclamation point on a victory against his old team. It wasn't a layup or dunk, but it was truly spectacular. Jordan grabbed Ron Mercer's layup out of the air with both hands and pinned it against the backboard in the final seconds of the Washington Wizards 89-83 victory against the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. "I can jump when I have to," Jordan said, "especially when I get [angry]." Jordan scored 29 points, but 19 of them came in the second quarter. He was 1-for-9 with just four points in the second half as the Wizards nearly blew a 26-point lead, so a lot of frustration was unleashed in what coach Doug Collins called Jordan's most spectacular play of the season. "I don't know where he came from," Collins said. "He was really dead on his feet. He was mad. That was an angry play. He was flying. John Thompson said he is Floor Jordan now, but he was flying on that one." Jordan, who scored 51 and 45 in his two previous games, made 9-of-24 shots, 11-of-13 free throws and had seven rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes. He also become the fourth player in NBA history to score 30,000 points.
The victory achieved a personal goal for Jordan, who spoke of how he'd like to get the long-struggling Wizards above the level of the Bulls, the league's worst team since Jordan departed in 1998. The mission seems already achieved. The Wizards (17-14) are three games above .500 and have won three straight and five in a row at home. The Bulls (6-25) are again at the bottom of the standings and are 0-17 on the road, the only NBA team yet to win away from home. "This is special in a sense that we're trying to claw our way out of the basement of losing teams," Jordan said. "If we have to step on other people to move up, then that's what we do. "That's the importance of it more than anything. I like to think that we're moving in the right direction and Chicago may not be moving in the right direction, and I don't want to be compared with them. I want to show some separation." Jordan, who did not practice Thursday and was late for Friday's shootaround because of his sinus problems, was way off the mark several times as the Bulls rallied to 85-78 with 3:45 left.
Jordan stopped the run by getting fouled on a move to the basket and making both free throws with 1:54 to play. Both teams were cold the rest of the way as the Wizards hung on. "They forced it to be a game," Jordan said. "And we limped ourselves right into a victory." Chris Whitney had 18 points and eight assists for the Wizards, and Popeye Jones had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Mercer scored 25 to lead the Bulls, and Charles Oakley had 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Jordan wasn't a one-man show. He appeared tight as he made just one of five shots in the first quarter. But the rest of the team shot 83 percent -- a testament to its growth -- to give the Wizards a 32-18 lead. The Bulls missed their first eight shots and were down 10-0 before they scored. The second quarter was all Jordan. He scored 19 of the Wizards' 25 points, mostly on jumpers over his friend Ron Artest, who nearly derailed Jordan's comeback when he accidentally broke Jordan's ribs during a summer pickup game in Chicago. Teams have not double-teamed Jordan lately, contributing to his recent hot streak. The Bulls double-teamed occasionally, forcing Jordan to pass, but it was mostly Artest's very physical one-on-one defense that sometimes left Jordan enough space to shoot the fadeaway. "I don't think they [people of Chicago] are going to like that one because they wanted us to win because they already feel like he betrayed us -- some people," Artest said. "But we'll see them again on the 19th and we'll be able to get a victory there." Jordan needed 15 points to reach 30,000, and he got it with the second of two free throws with 5:28 to go in the half, giving the Wizards a 45-31 lead. The game was halted for about 30 seconds during the next stoppage in play as the sellout crowd gave him a standing ovation, with several fans holding up large banners that read "Congratulations, Michael Jordan, 30,000 points." Artest, who fouled out in the game's final minute, was the one who committed the foul that gave Jordan a chance to get the milestone. Artest was so angry he unleashed a vicious punch on the scorer's table. "I just wanted to break the scoreboard," Artest said. "Of course it was good for him, the greatest ever, not too many people have stopped him -- but I just didn't want him to get that 30,000 on me." Jordan joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to reach 30,000. Jordan scored 29,277 of those points in 13 seasons with the Bulls. Jordan finished the half with a 6-0 run -- a 19-foot jump shot, a reverse layup off a feed from rookie Brendan Haywood and a 21-foot jumper -- to put the Wizards up 57-37 at the break. Jordan was 7-for-10 in the second quarter. The lead grew to 26 in the third quarter, but the Bulls rallied in the fourth behind Mercer and Marcus Fizer, who scored nine of his 13 points in the final 12 minutes. Notes: Though he was sick, there was never any doubt Jordan would play against the Bulls. ... The last time the Bulls visited Washington, they broke a franchise-record 25-game road losing streak with a 113-109 victory on April 11.
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