Hamilton scored 27 of his season-high 34 points in the opening half and starred during the decisive second quarter as the streaking Washington Wizards handed the tired New York Knicks a 96-80 setback.
Jordan recovered from a slow start to collect 19 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Wizards, who won their fifth straight game in dominating fashion over New York, which arrived in the Washington area around sunrise.
"We had a big advantage that they got in at 7:00 and I'm pretty sure they were tired and we were well-rested," Jordan said. "I think that when we have teams like that we sense blood and we have to go attack. I think tonight was a great example of a young team learning to take advantage of the opportunity."
 Kwame Brown shoots against Travis Knight of the Knicks. Mitchell Layton NBAE/Getty Images |
"We need rest," said Don Chaney, who fell to 1-3 as Knicks coach. "I don't know what time the players got to bed, but I know I didn't go to bed until about 9:30. It was tough."
However, the night did not feature all good news for Washington, which lost starting forward Christian Laettner to a broken left fibula early in the first quarter. Laettner, the Wizards' fourth-leading scorer, will be sidelined for a month.
The one good stretch of the game for the Knicks came early in the second quarter, when they put together a quick 8-0 run to pull within 31-29 on a jumper by Othella Harrington, who finished with a team-high 18 points.
However, Hamilton and Jordan combined for all of Washington's points during an ensuing 11-1 run that essentially turned the contest into a laugher.
"We just wanted to play aggressive," Hamilton said. "I think that early in the game MJ was giving me the ball and late in the game I was passing to him. We're learning to play with each other each and every day."
Jordan began the burst by making a technical free throw and Hamilton followed by driving into the lane for a basket. Jordan hit a jumper and Hamilton did the same after he made two free throws.
"We ran good plays for (Hamilton)," said Wizards coach Doug Collins. "He was coming off those screens with speed. He was hitting his shot, he was getting out on the court more. He had five rebounds and seven assists so he is playing the whole game."
Shandon Anderson went 1-of-2 from the line for New York before Jordan's jumper gave the Wizards a commanding 40-29 advantage with 4:12 to play in the opening half.
"It feels great any time you win five in a row," added Hamilton. "A lot of guys in this locker room have probably never won five games in a row. It's definitely a confidence booster. We just want to keep building."
Hamilton, guarded by Allan Houston, was basically unstoppable in the second period, totaling 14 points. He finished 14-of-24 from the field and made all five of his free-throw attempts.
With just under three minutes left in the third quarter, Hamilton's 3-pointer from the top of the key pushed the Wizards' cushion to 75-58.
Popeye Jones had 11 rebounds and Jahidi White grabbed 10 ffor Washington, which held a 49-39 advantage on the boards and shot 46 percent (38-of-82) from the field.
The Knicks, who received 13 points apiece from Latrell Sprewell and Houston, connected on just 35 percent (29-of-82) of their shots and were a meager 1-of-15 from 3-point range.
"I'm sure our players are hurting right now because we weren't on our game," Chaney said. "I was watching our shooters shoot, and they weren't even coming close. We were a step slow and we had no rhythm. There were just too many signs of fatigue."