MIAMI -- All those 40-minute games lately finally caught up with 40-year-old Michael Jordan.
The Miami Heat made nine consecutive shots in the second half and took advantage of a poor shooting night by a weary Jordan to beat the Washington Wizards 93-83 Sunday.
Jordan missed seven of his first eight attempts and finished 9-for-27, including two airballs.
"Michael is human," Wizards coach Doug Collins said. "When it comes to minutes, he has played a lot lately, and his shot wasn't going tonight."
Since turning 40 on Feb. 17, Jordan has averaged 27.3 points per game. But he also has averaged 44 minutes, including 43 on Saturday against Chicago and 39 on Sunday.
Playing with a wrap covering his right leg to protect a thigh bruise, Jordan settled for 21 points against Miami.
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| Washington Wizards guard Michael Jordan, left, drive the ball past Miami Heat's Caron Butler during the second quarter in Miami, Sunday, March 2, 2003. Miami won 93-83. (AP) |
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"I've been on a pretty good roll, and I guess everybody was looking for me," Jordan said. "I've played a lot of minutes the past few games. I didn't seem to have it tonight."
Miami won even though scoring leader Eddie Jones played just 21 minutes because of foul trouble. He committed his fifth and sixth fouls in a 13-second span and was disqualified with 8:45 left.
But by then the Heat were in the midst of their shooting streak, which turned a 63-59 deficit into an 84-72 lead. Travis Best's three-point play put Miami ahead to stay, and his 3-point basket midway through the fourth quarter made it 80-70.
Reserve Mike James also sparked the surge, helping the Heat score on nine consecutive possessions. He finished with 10 points and five assists in 21 minutes.
"They were off and running," Jordan said. "We never got into sync offensively, except in the third quarter, when our defense created some things."
Caron Butler led Miami with 20 points and added nine rebounds and five assists. The rookie matched up against Jordan at both ends of the court.
"He's the best," Butler said. "I just tried to go at him. He went at me. It was fun out there."
The game drew a noisy crowd of 16,500 -- only the sixth home sellout for the Heat this season.
"It was great," coach Pat Riley said. "There were a lot of fans that we haven't seen most of the year. We wanted to try to put something in their minds to get the fans to come back."
Washington, which had won three in a row, missed a chance to climb above .500 for the first time since Jan. 22. The Wizards have lost eight of their last 10 road games.
Miami snapped a three-game losing streak and avenged a 30-point loss to Washington in their most recent meeting in November.
Brian Grant had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Miami, and Jones scored 16 points despite his limited playing time. Jerry Stackhouse had 24 for the Wizards.
Anthony Goldwire, who signed a 10-day contract Saturday with Washington, scored 10 points, including a 3-pointer that made the score 57-57 during a 14-0 Wizards run. They took their first lead of the second half on their next possession.
The spurt came when Jones went to the bench early in the third quarter with four fouls.
"We played eight minutes of team basketball," Collins said, "and that was in the third quarter."
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