Wizards extend winning streak

NEW YORK -- Just like he did in the past, Michael Jordan added to the New York Knicks' misery.

Jordan had another Madison Square Garden moment to remember Saturday night, hitting a tiebreaking jump shot with 3.2 seconds left as the Washington Wizards rallied to beat the Knicks 87-86 Saturday night for their ninth straight victory.

"Sometimes you just have a favorite place to play. This has always been one of my favorite places, and I didn't play particularly well the last time I was here," Jordan said.

The winning streak matches the longest in franchise history. The Wizards, who were without second-leading scorer Richard Hamilton (strained groin), came back from a 10-point deficit in the final six minutes.

On the winning play, Jordan was isolated at the top of the key against Latrell Sprewell. Taking two quick steps to his right, Jordan pulled up from 16 feet away and drained the jumper for an 85-83 lead as Sprewell and Allan Houston lunged at him.

"He's so good at shot-faking that I tried to stay down, and that's what I did," Sprewell said. "I really wasn't happy with the (defense). If I could have just gotten a hand up, you can live with that. But you have to be aware that he shot-fakes a lot."

With Jordan playing tight defense on Sprewell on the ensuing inbounds pass, Sprewell stepped on the sideline for a turnover. Chris Whitney sealed the win by making a pair of foul shots with 1.4 seconds left before Houston hit a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Jordan, who tormented the Knicks in past seasons and had the only triple-double in All-Star game history when it was played at the Garden, finished with 26 points.

Hubert Davis added 14, and Tyronn Lue tied his season-high with 12.

"It seems like when things are going well, when a team like Washington wins seven or eight in a row, they expect something good to happen," Knicks guard Mark Jackson said. "When a team like us is trying to fight and scratch and claw and is losing games, we almost expect something negative to happen."