Jordan Starts, but Can’t Quite Finish

Michael Jordan made his first start this season but couldn’t come up with one last clutch play.

Jordan had an offensive rebound, an assist and blocked a shot in the last minute, but his pass to Bryon Russell with five seconds to play was stolen, depriving the Washington Wizards of a chance at a game-winning shot in a 95-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night at Washington.

“I think he took one extra dribble,” Wizard Coach Doug Collins said. “I think he probably wishes he would have pulled up.”

Said Jordan: “It was one of those situations where you cannot not get a shot off.... I thought Russell was open underneath the basket.”

Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown credited Keith Van Horn with making the defensive stop.

“We all knew that the ball was going to Michael,” Van Horn said. “We as a team just did a good job of collapsing when he drove with the ball.”

The victory was the 76ers’ seventh in a row. The Wizards have lost six in a row.

Allen Iverson scored 12 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, making long jumpers despite tight defense from rookie Juan Dixon.

Jerry Stackhouse kept the Wizards in the game, scoring 25 of his 38 points in the second half. Jordan scored 16 points on 8-for-20 shooting in a season-high 37 minutes.

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Dallas 103, Chicago 90 -- Nick Van Exel returned from a nine-game injury absence and had 17 points and seven assists for the Mavericks at Dallas.

Playing for the first time since their 14-0 start was stopped at Indiana, Dallas never trailed and used an 11-0 run to regain control after Chicago got within five points late in the third quarter.

It was Don Nelson’s 200th victory as coach of the Mavericks.

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New Jersey 93, Portland 86 -- Jason Kidd had 28 points and eight rebounds, and the Nets withstood a fourth-quarter rally by the Trail Blazers at Portland, Ore.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Nets had lost their six previous games at Portland.

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San Antonio 107, Utah 85 -- Stephen Jackson scored 17 points at San Antonio and the Spurs held Karl Malone to 1-for-16 shooting.

The loss was Utah’s 10th in a row to the Spurs. The Jazz had a six-game winning streak ended.

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Orlando 117, Atlanta 92 -- Tracy McGrady scored his 28 points in the first three quarters at Orlando, Fla., and the Magic won its third in a row.

The Magic closed the second quarter with a 21-5 run for a 69-50 lead. The onslaught continued in the third quarter, when the Magic made its first eight field goal attempts to push the lead to 31 points.

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Miami 85, Cleveland 79 -- Rookie Caron Butler scored six of his team-high 16 points in the last two minutes at Miami and the Heat held on to hand the Cavaliers their 14th consecutive loss .

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New York 92, New Orleans 86 -- Allan Houston recovered from a scoreless second half to make a clinching jumper with 13 seconds left at New York, and the Knicks beat the Hornets in the third overtime game between the teams this season.

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Milwaukee 109, Detroit 86 -- Sam Cassell scored 24 points and Tim Thomas had 21 to lead the Bucks at Milwaukee.

The Pistons had defeated the Bucks, 96-91, on Friday at Detroit.

Milwaukee led by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter.

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Golden State 100, Phoenix 90 -- Antawn Jamison scored 37 points at Oakland to match his season high and the Warriors won consecutive games for the first time this season.

The Warriors fought off another big game by Stephon Marbury to end their five-game losing streak against Phoenix despite 25 turnovers.

Marbury, who scored 43 points in Phoenix’s victory over San Antonio on Friday, had 32 points.