WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Ticker) -- Michael Jordan had another strong second half, which is a good sign for the second half of the season for the Washington Wizards.

Jordan scored 41 points and finished in strong fashion for the second straight game as the Wizards climbed back above .500 with a 112-102 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Elected as an All-Star starter in fan balloting released earlier in the day, Jordan showed he was a worthy choice, making 17-of-30 shots and handing out seven assists. It was his fifth 40-point game of the season and second in succession.

"I'm just shooting a lot better," Jordan said. "I'm getting a great rhythm and I like the way guys are really starting to set screens. My legs are starting to come back and I'm finding a great rhythm right now."

NBA.comTV highlights from Suns-Wizards: 56k | 300k Jahidi White and the Wizards put the game out of reach early. Mitchell Layton NBAE/Getty Images

Jordan is averaging 35 points over his last four games. But the 38-year-old superstar was limited to nine points on 3-of-23 shooting after halftime in the first two of those contests, raising questions about his durability over the remainder of the season.

Some of those questions were answered in Thursday's win over Cleveland, when Jordan scored 16 of his 40 points after halftime and said opposing defenses were what had slowed him down.

"Those couple of games where teams focused on me in the second half, I wasn't shooting the ball well, but I hope that people can see that it is not fatigue," Jordan said. "It had more to do with how defenses were focusing on me in the second half of games."

"I think we've done a much better job, after what happened against Minnesota and Philadelphia, of keeping Michael on the move so that teams cannot lock their defense in on him," Wizards coach Doug Collins said. "When he is moving and the rest of the team is moving without the ball, they don't know where to help."

In this one, Jordan had 20 points before intermission and 21 after, helping the Wizards (21-20) move above .500 at the midway point of the season. Washington won just 19 games last season.

"We end the halfway mark with a winning record, which is great," Collins said.

Chris Whitney had 15 points and eight assists and Popeye Jones added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards, who shot 51 percent (39-of-76).

"Teams are not sleeping on us anymore," Jones said. "They know we can play, and they are going to be looking to come after us, so we have to strap it on and get ready for the second half."

Stephon Marbury had 25 points and 10 assists for the Suns, who completed a 1-2 road trip. Phoenix has lost four of its last five visits to Washington.

"We just couldn't get three or four stops together," Marbury said. "When things are not going well offensively, we start to get frustrated on defense."

The Wizards took the lead for good at 13-12 on a 3-pointer by Whitney with 4:41 left in the first quarter. Jordan scored six points in the opening period, then added 14 in the second.

His back-to-back hoops gave Washington a double-digit lead and a free throw by Jones made it 45-34 with 1:31 left.

Leading 49-37 at halftime, Hubert Davis scored nine points and Jordan eight in the third quarter as the Wizards expanded the lead to 75-59 entering the final period.

Jordan eclipsed 40 points with a banker with 2:37 remaining to give Washington a 98-82 lead.

"Michael doesn't surprise me," Suns coach Scott Skiles said. "Anybody would be foolish to be surprised by anything he does. It is interesting to me how in the last couple of weeks, he is really starting to put up more of the eye-popping numbers."

"Physically, I'm feeling good, and if I continue to feel good, then you'll probably see those numbers," Jordan said.

Davis scored 11 points for Washington, which made 33-of-42 free throws.

Shawn Marion collected 15 points and 10 rebounds and rookie Joe Crispin scored 13 points -- all in the final three minutes -- for the Suns, who shot 42 percent (36-of-85).