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Jordan's job safe Wizards impress boss with 101-88 win over Bulls
Posted: Sunday March 19, 2000 01:56 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michael Jordan won't have to quit. A strong fourth quarter from the backups salvaged a letdown performance as Jordan's new team, the Washington Wizards, beat his old one, the Chicago Bulls, 101-88 Saturday night. The victory came two nights after the Wizards ended the Los Angeles Lakers' 19-game winning streak, and Jordan let it be known he wouldn't accept a bad-effort night against Chicago. He even joked, "I may send in my resignation" if the Bulls won. And his message after Saturday's game? "I just told them that I could keep my job," Jordan said with a chuckle. "It's some satisfaction that they bounced back from a real big win tonight and took care of business when they were supposed to take care of business. That's the type of team that you want to have." Rod Strickland had 13 points and nine assists, and Gerard King had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards. Elton Brand had 24 points for the Bulls, who have lost seven in a row and 10 straight on the road. The Wizards have played down to the level of the competition throughout the season -- they lost back-to-back, home-and-home games to the Bulls in January -- and it nearly happened again. No matter how badly the Bulls played, the Wizards kept finding a way to respond in kind. Whenever the Wizards went on a run and appeared ready to put the game away in the first three quarters, they'd let the Bulls back in it. Washington finally shut down Brand in a 14-4 run starting with 8:04 to go in the game, putting the lead at 95-78 with 4:49 remaining. Chicago didn't get within double digits again.
King was the only Wizards starter to play in the fourth quarter. Aaron Williams had nine points in the period as he and Chris Whitney found the Bulls unable to stop the pick-and-roll. "The bench has brought in a lot of energy," said Jordan, facing the Bulls for the first time since joining the Wizards as part-owner and president of basketball operation on Jan. 19. "That's one of the things the starting five has to do -- they have to match the energy of the second team. If they can do that, then you don't have those low periods. The bench is supposed to be your second five, and if they can come in and give more energy that your first five, then you've got problems." Jordan is estranged from the Bulls because of his frosty relationship with owner Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause. He said it didn't feel odd watching the game because Chicago's roster has changed so much since he retired more than a year ago. "They're in disarray, quite honestly," Jordan said. "But they have a couple of players they can build around, [Ron] Artest as well as Brand." The Bulls' low point came when they botched two plays in the final five seconds of the first quarter. First, the 24-clock expired as Chicago was working for the final shot. Then, after the Bulls got the ball back on a quick charging call, Will Purdue's inbounds pass was intercepted at midcourt by Mitch Richmond, who raced downcourt and dunked at the buzzer. Still, the Wizards shot only 36 percent in the first half and led only 46-43 at halftime. Juwan Howard opened the second half with three baskets for a 6-0 run, but the Bulls twice cut the deficit to five in the third quarter before Washington's reserves took over in the fourth. The Bulls have won only 13 games all year, so this was a blown opportunity to get a rare victory against a team they had beaten twice already. "Those reserves didn't play like that two months ago," Brand said. "I think that's why they got the win. Their reserves really came out and put it to us tonight." The most relieved person in the MCI Center might have been Wizards coach Darrell Walker, who didn't want to lose a game his boss had emphasized so keenly. "I was a little nervous about the basketball game," Walker said. "I kept telling the guys during the timeouts to pick up their energy level, to pick up their intensity."
Notes: Jordan, as he does sometimes, stayed away from the owners' box and watched the game on television in his office. ... The Wizards won their second game in a row, giving them only their fourth winning streak all season.
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