Jordan appears ready to take Bulls by horns

WASHINGTON -- Michael Jordan was asked if he was looking forward to Friday.

"What's Friday?" he shot back.

He then unwrinkled his brow, let out a sly chuckle, said a few words about how nice it is that the Washington Wizards won't be on the road anytime soon and finally added the punch line that was coming all along.

"I'm definitely looking forward to Chicago," he said.

Maybe Jordan is the best athlete in the universe, because the planets will be aligned for him today at the MCI Center. He's well rested, relatively healthy, has been unstoppable for the last two games and is going for 30,000 points -- against his old team, the Chicago Bulls.

"He's been giving people 40, 50," said Bulls forward Ron Artest, who played in Jordan's pickup games in Chicago over the summer. "He's probably going to try to give me about 70. I'm going to try and give him 70, too."

Return to health

It's not out of the question, at least for Jordan. After putting up 51 points against Charlotte and 45 on New Year's Eve against New Jersey, Jordan indicated more of the same is on the way. The tendinitis in his knee is on the wane, allowing him to resume daily weightlifting and regain strength in his legs for better lift on his jumpers and quicker drives to the basket.

"This is how I was playing all summer," Jordan said, "before I broke my ribs."

Ribs, knees and back problems added up to a slow start for Jordan's second comeback. His shot wasn't falling, and he couldn't shake off a defender to drive. The scouting report changed, and he stopped getting double-teamed because teammate Richard Hamilton was actually scoring more.

"What has happened is, at the beginning of the season they didn't feel they needed it because I wasn't making my shots and I didn't seem as quick," Jordan said. "Most teams in the last couple of games have been playing me straight man-to-man, and I think that's going to have to change. If not, I think it's going to be to our benefit.

"If teams start to clamp down on me, I can move the ball. If they don't, I'll take advantage of it."

Jordan won six titles in 13 years with the Bulls, and his statue is outside the United Center, where he'll make his first appearance with a visiting team Jan. 19. Ninety-eight percent of his 29,985 career points have been scored for Chicago, and chances are he'll get 15 against Chicago to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to reach 30,000.

"Obviously it wasn't a thought that I could get to 30,000 when I retired the last time," Jordan said. "Now it's within reach. It's an elite club obviously, and I feel privileged just to be in that club. ... It's very motivating for me."

Time machine

In the 51-point game against the Hornets, forward P.J. Brown said Jordan "went back in time." Charlotte coach Paul Silas said Jordan's fadeaway reminded him of Muhammad Ali "when Ali used to fade back and you couldn't hit him with the jab."

"Mike is the same way," Silas said. "He fades back on that shot and if he's hitting, it's almost impossible to stop him."

Wizards coach Doug Collins is a bridge to the Chicago years, having coached Jordan and the Bulls for three years in the 1980s.

"I think he's more of a surgeon now," Collins said. "Before, he would beat you with sheer will, skill and energy. Now he slices you. He finds out where to attack you. He reads it and he has a clock in his head.

"I always said the older you get the easier the game comes to you. It's unfortunate your legs get older. But with Michael, he has used that brilliant mind of his and he now just plays and does what he needs on any particular night."

Looking for an edge

Jordan studies film as much as any player in the game. Collins said Jordan recently watched a couple of tapes and realized he wasn't striding on his plant foot the way he normally would, so he wasn't getting the elevation on the jump shots.

Jordan also is starting to go to the basket more, getting defenders in the air with a pump fake and dribbling right on by. His performance the last two games is more impressive given that starters Hamilton and Christian Laettner are injured and won't be back for at least a couple of weeks.

"Are we going to ride him with Rip (Hamilton) out? Yes," Collins said. "We have to. It would be silly not to."

With 96 points in two games, Jordan needs 68 points to match his best-ever three-game run, when he scored 53, 50 and 61 for a total of 164 for the Bulls from April 12-16, 1987. His career high is 69.

"It'd be a lot of points for anybody," said former teammate Bill Cartwright, now the Bulls' coach. "But we know Michael has the potential to do the abnormal."