Jordan returned from a knee injury and collected 10 points and three assists in the fourth quarter to lift the Washington Wizards to an 85-82 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Jordan missed his first game of the season Tuesday after having fluid drained from his swollen right knee. His decision to return seemed premature after he made just 4-of-15 shots through three quarters.
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from Wizards-Rockets: 56k | 300k  Michael Jordan puts up a graceful, one-handed runner. Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images |
"He was struggling with his rhythm early," Washington coach Doug Collins added. "We were hoping that we could keep it that close to give him a chance to do what he did."
Jordan displayed his usual flare for the dramatic in the final period. Washington was clinging to a 64-62 lead and immediately went on an 8-3 run when he returned with 9:34 remaining.
Jordan began the stretch with an acrobatic reverse layup and made a fadeaway jumper before feeding rookie Brendan Haywood for a dunk. He capped the burst with a another fadeaway to give the Wizards a 72-65 lead with 5:11 to go.
After a pair of free throws by Houston's Kenny Thomas, Jordan nailed an 18-footer. He made another jumper with 2:02 remaining and recorded assists on jumpers by Tyronn Lue and Popeye Jones in the final 91 seconds.
"He's a great player and it's hard to believe that he can still do what he does," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He got it going tonight in the fourth quarter and played a team game. He was passing the ball and making shots of his own. I think he's the greatest and he simply elevates the bar in this league."
The Wizards snapped a seven-game skid in Houston, winning at the Compaq Center for the first time since Feb. 8, 1993.
Jordan finished with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Richard Hamilton led Washington with 26 points and Jones added 10 and 10 rebounds off the bench.
"I'm learning how to play with them and they are learning how to play with me," Jordan said. "It's all getting better."
The Wizards shot just 44 percent (38-of-86) and went to the line only 11 times but held the injury-depleted Rockets to 35 percent (30-of-85) shooting, including 2-of-17 from 3-point range.
Cuttino Mobley scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half for Houston, which has lost eight in a row for the first time since March 7-20, 2000.
Thomas had 13 points and eight rebounds and Kelvin Cato collected 12 and 10 for the Rockets, which lost swingman Glen Rice to a foot injury late in the third quarter.
Houston already is without star guard Steve Francis, who is out with plantar fasciatis in his left heel. The Rockets are winless in seven games since Francis went down on Nov. 23.
"When we finally get everyone healthy, we'll finally see how deep the hole is that we've put ourselves into," Mobley said. "I guess we're going to just have to deal with it because everybody is going to go through this. We just need to find a way to win a game."
Houston had control early, bridging the first two quarters with a 15-4 run to take a 32-26 lead with 7:23 left in the first half. Mobley made three shots during the burst, closing it with a layup and a short jumper.
But Washington responded with six straight points to tie it and neither team led by more than five until Jordan took over.