Throwback 2001: Michael Jordan (30pts/7asts) vs Iverson (40pts)

"I don't see anyone covering my back as everyone probably expected me to cover theirs," said a pissed off Jordan after a losing for the 9th time in 10 games.  That loss to the Cavs also marked the 4th time in 10 games he was held to under 20 points and caused the frustrated Jordan to say his team "stinks."

The stinking Wizards then headed to Philly to play Iverson and the defending Eastern Conference Champs and as expected they had no answer for stopping The Answer who had a game-high 40 points.  But, they did have success in stopping the rest of the 76ers and the Wizards were finally hitting some shots.  Jordan scored 30 points and more importantly was able to get 7 assists.  Rip Hamilton benefited the most from those assists and finished with 28 points in the 7 point win for the Wizards.

"I think they felt the need to come out and play hard," Jordan said. "We found a way to play solid basketball and guys made shots.

"It's important to come out this way every night. It doesn't matter if it's Cleveland or Philadelphia. The effort should be there every night. That's what was disappointing about Cleveland is we didn't have this type of effort. This is something we have to continue to build on."

The 38 year old Jordan also had 6 rebounds and a team high 5 steals. Iverson only had 3 assists to go with his 9 turnovers.

"It's disappointing," Iverson said. "This is one of the teams we are supposed to beat. We had them where we wanted and just let it go."

							

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