Jordan missed five of his first six shots but finished 11-of-19 and had six assists before sitting out the fourth quarter. He caught fire in the second period, making nine straight shots as the Wizards built a 20-14 lead into a 49-33 advantage at halftime.
"I kind of got hot in the second quarter," Jordan said. "That was probably the best rhythm I have had since early in the season. I just think that if I can get that back I feel good, my legs are starting to come back and I can feel it in my shot."
 Michael Jordan scored his number (23), with 18 of those coming in the second quarter. Mitchell Layton NBAE/Getty Images |
Jordan had two points through the first 17 minutes but 18 in the last seven for the Wizards, who allowed their fewest points in the first half this season.
"Well, I've seen him hit more than that before, so I wasn't surprised," Kukoc said. "I was kind of hoping he might miss a couple. He missed a couple early but then he got into his rhythm and whatever we tried to do was not enough."
Richard Hamilton added 20 points and Jahidi White had 10 and 10 rebounds for Washington, which last won seven in a row from March 30-April 14, 1996.
"We don't have any guys bad-mouthing each other," Hamilton said. "Everybody is starting to feed off of each other and we know that in order for us to win, we are going to have to win as a team."
Washington (12-12) has not been .500 since it lost to Detroit on November 4 to fall to 2-2. The Wizards have not won eight games in a row since the 1982-83 season, when Jordan was a sophomore at North Carolina.
"We haven't won anything other than getting ourselves to a .500 record," Jordan said. "I think we are not going to jump the gun. We are playing better. We are competing a lot harder. We are trying to be a smarter team and our young kids are growing real fast, and that is helping us."
Chris Whitney's 3-pointer capped a 10-0 run and gave Washington a 59-33 lead with 8:55 remaining in the third quarter. Atlanta forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 15 points over the next seven minutes and cut the deficit to 72-54.
But Hamilton tallied four of the next five points to give Washington a 76-55 edge heading into the fourth quarter. The Wizards led by as much as 94-63 on Hamilton's final bucket, a jumper with 6:57 left.
Washington shot 55 percent (45-of-82) while holding Atlanta to 33 percent (30-of-90). The Wizards bested their previous season high of 52 percent against Dallas on December 8, and their 34 assists were a season high.
Atlanta, which lost for the second time in two nights, was led by Abdur-Rahim's 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kukoc added 19 points, but just one in the second half.
"I only shot one ball (in the second half)," Kukoc said. "You cannot score more than one point if you shoot one ball. But that's not the important thing. The important thing is we were not ready to play a game tonight. We just kind of folded in the second quarter and from there, we were behind the whole rest of the game trying to get back."
"We are moving to be winners," Washington coach Doug Collins said. "That is our next step is to be winners. I am really proud of how these guys have battled and worked to make this happen. I have just tried to guide them in the direction and they have done all the work."