Keith Van Horn led a first-quarter barrage as the Nets matched their win total from last season by handing Jordan the worst defeat of his career in a 111-67 rout of the Washington Wizards.
The NBA's most surprising team, the Nets (26-11) often have played in front of disappointing crowds at Continental Airlines Arena. Their previous largest crowd this season was 17,318 against Philadelphia on November 17.
On Wednesday, Jordan made his first appearance in New Jersey since coming out of retirement and a crowd of 20,049 turned out. But they only got see the five-time NBA Most Valuable Player for a half.
 Aaron Williams was a key factor for the Nets, making seven of 11 shots off the bench, and providing strength inside. Noren Trotman /NBAE/Getty Images |
Kenyon Martin, who had all kinds of problems guarding Jordan in the Nets' 98-76 loss at Washington on December 31, started the contest with a dunk and New Jersey was on its way.
New Jersey made its first 13 shots and led by as many 27 points in the opening quarter before settling for a 43-18 advantage. Van Horn scored 17 points in the period, making 6-of-8 shots from the field. He finished with 27 points.
"Everyone in the game felt great about the way they were shooting the ball," said Van Horn, who finished 9-of-13 from the field. "We were all getting an open layup, we were running the floor."
As a team, the Nets shot a blistering 86 percent (18-of-21) in the first quarter. They finished at 52 percent (44-of-84).
New Jersey led by as many 48 points, handing Jordan the biggest defeat of his 14-year career. His previous most lopsided loss was when his Chicago Bulls suffered a 112-75 rout at New York on November 28, 1992.
Jordan had no memory of ever getting beat this bad.
"No. That's probably good that I don't remember," he said. "Believe me, by the time I walk away from you guys (media), I'm going to forget this one."
Jordan, who poured in 45 points in the first meeting against the Nets, scored just 10 on Wednesday in 18 minutes.
"I like to think we just had an awful night," Jordan said. "I'm pretty sure they'll say they had an awful night when we beat them. Obviously, they have a good team. They have the best record in the East. They're very deserving of it because of Jason Kidd."
Kidd added 11 points and 12 assists for the Nets, who won their sixth straight game. They went 26-56 last season but have have the Eastern Conference's best record this season.
"This team doesn't really thrive on sellouts," Kidd said. "We go out and play no matter how many people are in the stands. I don't think anybody got up too much because of the sellout. We had to protect our home court and we felt that if we executed and were aggressive, we could do that."
The winning streak matches the Nets' longest since the 1992-93 season.
It also was big defensive night for New Jersey, which set a club record for fewest point allowed. The previous low was 68 vs. Charlotte on January 13, 1998.
"Like I said, I thought our guys would be ready," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "I thought they were definitely ready. We came out with an aggressive attitude from the get-go."
Washington averted its fewest points in franchise history when Tyrone Nesby made a follow shot with 21 seconds remaining. The previous low was 66 at Chicago on January 5, 2000.
"This thing was over in two minutes. I feared this coming in here tonight," said Wizards coach Doug Collins, whose club was coming off Tuesday's 96-91 loss to San Antonio. "Our guys played so hard last night. With our injuries, we just don't have any guys that could come in and give us energy."
Rookie reserve Bobby Simmons scored a season-high 12 points to lead Washington, which shot just 30 percent (27-of-90) and held a 49-45 rebounding edge. In last month's victory over the Nets, Washington had a commanding 62-30 advantage on the boards.
Sparked by the blistering start, the Nets already had built a 31-10 lead less than eight minutes into the contest before they finally missed when Todd MacCulloch could not convert a layup with 4:23 left in the first quarter.
The Nets held a 29-point advantage at halftime and took their biggest lead of the contest at 107-59 with 3:22 remaining in the contest on a 13-footer by rookie Richard Jefferson.
"I thought the first half, if I could bottle that up and save it for the next 40-something games, I would," Scott said. "It was just a great display of basketball on both ends of the floor."
Aaron Williams added 17 points off the bench for the Nets, whose reserves combined for 46 points.
Martin, the top pick in the 2000 draft, finished with 14 points in winning his battle for at least one night with Jordan.