Courtney Alexander scored a season-high 32 points as the Wizards snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 107-102 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic.
Five of the defeats were with Jordan in the lineup and the last two came after Jordan underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Wednesday. He is out anywhere from two to six weeks, severely jeopardizing Washington's playoff hopes.
In addition to Jordan's absence, second-leading scorer Richard Hamilton sat out with the flu and starting center Jahidi White was sidelined with a strained right shoulder.
 Tracy McGrady slices his way to a team-high 30 points. Mitchell Layton NBAE/Getty Images |
But Tracy McGrady found Pat Garrity for an uncontested dunk that tied it with five seconds left. Whitney missed a potential game-winning jump shot.
In overtime, Tyrone Nesby gave the Wizards the lead for good at 97-95 with 4:37 left. The Magic did not make a basket until a layup by Horace Grant with 43 seconds left. McGrady's hoop cut the deficit to 103-102 with 14 seconds to go.
But McGrady, who led Orlando with 30 points, fouled Whitney and the Wizards made four foul shots in the final nine seconds to seal the win.
Last season, Alexander was one of the few bright spots in a 19-63 campaign. After being acquired from Dallas in the Juwan Howard deal, Alexander averaged 22.4 points per game in April and was named NBA Rookie of the Month.
This season, Jordan's presence and Alexander's injuries have limited his productivity. Alexander, who led the nation in scoring at Fresno State two years ago, has missed 26 games due to injury and the logjam at shooting guard.
In Friday's loss at Chicago, Alexander had just two points on 1-of-6 from the floor in 14 minutes.
"The opportunity was there for me and I just seized it," Alexander said. "The win means a lot to us. Without Michael and Richard, I am sure a lot of people wrote this team off. We have been resilient, we haven't given in to the pressure we have faced all year."
"He was ready to play tonight and took advantage of the opportunity," Wizards coach Doug Collins said. "As you can see, Courtney is a guy who can score points and we've got to be able to implement that when Michael and Rip come back. I want him to feel good about this and to grow from this. He was tremendous today for us."
It wasn't just Alexander who stepped up. Whitney had 20 points, Christian Laettner added 12 and Nesby, Popeye Jones and reserve guard Tyronn Lue chipped in 10 apiece.
Alexander had just two points after the first quarter, when Washington shot 48 percent (11-of-23) and opened a 23-18 lead. He scored eight in the second quarter, helping push the lead to 14 points.
Orlando shot 37 percent (15-of-41) in the first half and trailed 49-39 at intermission. Among the culprits was McGrady, who missed his first nine shots.
"There are things called hope and confidence and that's what we gave them," Magic foward Horace Grant said. "We let a team playing without a couple of their starters hang around and you could see their confidence building."
"The longer you let a team that you should beat, hang around, the more super they become," added Orlando coach Doc Rivers. "And we did that, even in overtime. Once it got to overtime, that's where you take it over, but we didn't."
In the final period, when the weakened Wizards could have folded, Alexander hit three jumpers in the last four minutes.
"There were a lot of times when Courtney Alexander made a lot of incredible shots," Orlando guard Darrell Armstrong said. "Tracy had good defense on him, but I think the better the defense Tracy had on him, the better he was making shots.
"If you can make shots like that with a hand in your face and almost a hand on your ball, then he deserved to hit those shots. Because there's a lot of guys who would get discouraged from having a guy like Tracy in your face. He was making big shots, but all of them were."
Orlando dropped to 2-3 on its 11-day, seven-game road trip that continues Tuesday in Indiana and concludes Wednesday in Boston.