Nov 04, 2001 8:08 AM EST

The sellout crowd of 20,674 had reason to cheer. The Wizards, behind a 13-0 third-quarter rally fueled by Coatesville's Richard Hamilton, and a 15-0 fourth-quarter run, came from behind to beat the 76ers, 90-76.

MJ and the Wizards improved to 2-1. The Sixers, who still are without Allen Iverson, Eric Snow and Aaron McKie, dropped to 0-3 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

It was the same story for the Sixers. Without Iverson, Snow and McKie, all of whom are injured, the Sixers lack three major reasons why they had such success last season. The backcourt replacements for those players - Speedy Claxton, Raja Bell and Ira Bowman - simply are not good enough to make up the difference, and Dikembe Mutombo and Derrick Coleman have not picked up the slack.

Claxton scored a career-high 22 points, although Sixers coach Larry Brown scolded him afterward for playing like a shooting guard, not a point guard. Matt Harpring added 13 points, two assists and two steals, but had five turnovers and no rebounds while shadowing Jordan most of the night.

Jordan had 20 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds in 38 minutes. Hamilton scored a team-high 29 points on 11-for-18 shooting from the floor.

Via