Jordan nets 31 for Wizards

ATLANTA -- Michael Jordan resembled His Airness more than His Oldness.

Jordan scored 31 points in Game 2 of his latest comeback and showed he hasn't lost the winning touch, leading the Washington Wizards to a 98-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night.

After being held to 19 points in his return two nights earlier, Jordan mustered some vintage moves and a dunk out of his 38-year-old body and refused to let the young Wizards falter down the stretch.

The teams managed only two baskets in the final three minutes, but one of them -- the clinching play -- involved Jordan. He drew a double-team 12 feet from the basket and passed to an open Chris Whitney, who sank a 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining to give the Wizards a 93-86 lead.

Jordan came out with 9.6 seconds remaining, slapping hands with his teammates.

He shot only 13-of-30 and threw up some certified bricks, but he also had six rebounds, six assists, two steals and only one turnover.

Jordan scored as many points in the first half -- 19 -- as he did in the opener against the Knicks, when he shot 7-of-21 and missed a 3-pointer with 18 seconds that would have tied the game.

Most striking but not really surprising considering the quality of his team, Jordan actually scored two more points than the rest of Washington's starters combined in the first half.