Bucks Roll Past Wizards

After a 19-point loss that wasn’t even competitive in the second half, Michael Jordan summed up what was obvious to everyone who had just witnessed it.

“Obviously, we’re not in their class,” Jordan said. “I think they’re a little better than we are right now.”

Actually, the Milwaukee Bucks looked a lot better than the Washington Wizards.

Tim Thomas dominated Jordan early, outscoring him, 16-2, in the first 12 minutes, as the Bucks opened a big lead and cruised past Washington, 105-86, Friday night, ending the Wizards’ four-game winning streak.

Thomas tied his season-high with 25 points, Ray Allen scored 27, Sam Cassell added 18 and Anthony Mason had 12 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.

“They played like the best team in the East,” Jordan said.

Jordan finished with 22 points, scoring 14 in the second quarter. The Bucks used Thomas, Mason and Darvin Ham to defend Jordan, who shot 10 for 24 and committed a season-high six turnovers.

Milwaukee prevented the Wizards from matching last season’s victory total of 19.

“You can’t underestimate what we are as a team,” Allen said. “We haven’t been showing that a lot, but we’re a pretty good basketball team when we’re playing good basketball, and I think we took them out of the game early.”

Washington is 0-9 when allowing 100 or more points. The Wizards held 14 of their previous 15 opponents below 100, including 11 games in which the opposition failed to reach 90.

The Bucks reached that number when Allen hit a three-pointer with 5:15 left, ending the Wizards’ final threat as Jordan sat out the entire fourth quarter.

Milwaukee made 10 of 13 three-point attempts, with Allen and Thomas making four apiece.