The Washington Post reports that the Wizards are excited about rookie center Brendan Haywood. The seven-footer has made an immediate impact in the interior after sitting out the first 12 games because of torn ligaments in his left thumb. Haywood has come off the injured list to grab 14 rebounds, block three shots, alter several others and give the team a low-post presence.

With help from starting center Jahidi White, Haywood played a huge role in containing 76ers center Dikembe Mutombo in the Wizards' 94-87 victory. Mutombo collected just five rebounds and six points and routinely was shielded from blocking shots or was boxed out of rebounding position by Haywood.

"Defensively, he changes everything for us," Wizards Coach Doug Collins said of Haywood. "He gives you a long, active guy, plus Brendan has energy. He can cover, he can get back, he bothers guys' jump shots. With Brendan [on offense], we feel very good that we can throw the ball in there and he can pass out of it.

Collins said one of the main missions of the franchise is to find out if Haywood could develop into the team's starting center. However, there is no rush at this point and Haywood will continue to play as a reserve.

Charles Barkley is apparently thinking once again about making a comeback and helping his buddy Michael Jordan in Washington.

ESPN.com reports that Barkley told HBO's Real Sports on Thursday that he may become Michael Jordan's teammate with the Washington Wizards once he gets in better shape.

Over the last several months, Barkley has stated several times that he is intrigued by the idea of coming back. However, Barkley says he needs to get in better shape before such a comeback is possible. Barkley told HBO he is down to 290 pounds.

"I'm thinking about it," Barkley told HBO. "I miss playing. I feel bad Michael is struggling and I think I could help him, but I need to lose another 25 pounds before I could help him."

Not much has changed with Michael Jordan's game since the last time he played a regular-season game in Miami.

After a three-year layoff, Jordan, 38, still is averaging more than 25 points, still talking trash and challenging younger players. The difference is for the first time in his career, he probably will be watching the playoffs.

"I don't think it's any different than what it was than when he was here in Chicago," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "Everybody expected that he would take the majority of the shots and (Richard) Hamilton would play a factor in it. The Bulls had three guys that averaged in double figures and that was about it when he was here and everybody else played a supportive role. I think everybody figured he was going to carry the load and he is."

Jordan's traveling show comes to Miami tonight. The Wizards, despite their 4-10 record, are packing arenas. Jordan is the show, averaging 25.7 points and taking 147 more shots than anybody on the team.

Jordan leads the team in assists with 4.9 per game and is second in rebounding with 6.4, but his shooting percentage of .402 is down from his career average of .505, and he is not going to the free-throw line as much as in past years.

Like Riley, Bulls assistant coach Bill Cartwright, who played with Jordan in Chicago, is not surprised at Jordan's production.

When/where: 7:30 p.m., AmericanAirlines Arena.

Tickets: 300 remain (limited number of $5 balcony seats remain).

Broadcast: TV ?CBS 4(Broward, Miami-Dade), UPN (Palm Beach). Radio ? WIOD (610-AM), WACC (830-AM, Spanish).

About the Wizards: Michael Jordan is averaging 32.5 points per game over his career against the Heat. After failing to get to the foul line in Tuesday?s loss in Cleveland, the first time he went without a free throw in 152 games, Jordan shot 8 of 10 from the line on the way to 30 points in Wednesday's 94-87 victory in Philadelphia. Jordan has scored 30 or more 14 times. Nonetheless, Washington has lost 8 of 10. Guard Hubert Davis has been sizzling from the 3-point arc, 14 of 27 on 3-pointers over the past five games. Guard Bobby Simmons (knee) and swingman Tyrone Nesby (back) are on the injured list.

About the Heat: The Heat has won 11 in a row against the Wizards, sweeping the series each of the past three years. The Wizards have never won in the regular season at AmericanAirlines Arena. However, Washington defeated the Heat 99-79 in Miami in an Oct. 13 exhibition. Jordan scored all 18 of his points in the first quarter of that game. The Heat enters 0-3 on the second nights of back-to-back games. Forward Chris Gatling is still hurting after taking an elbow to the head from Boston?s Eric Williams in Tuesday?s home loss to Boston. Center Ernest Brown (thumb) and forwards Brian Grant (foot) and Kendall Gill (finger) are on the injured list. Forward Sam Mack (hip) remains sidelined.

Off the court: Season-ticket holders get the second item at half price when purchasing an item at the team store in the arena.

"This is an absolute mess," Pat Riley said last week of his Heat.

"I just think we stink," Michael Jordan said Tuesday night of his Washington Wizards.

"I think we'll win another game," Riley said Tuesday after losing his ninth straight game, the most in his coaching career.

"If my shot's not falling, it's going to be a long night for us," Jordan said last week amid an eight-game losing streak, the longest in his playing career.

"It's time to grow up, be professional basketball players, stop succumbing to the pressure," Riley was saying on the phone Thursday afternoon from Chicago before the Heat succumbed again, losing No. 10 in a row to the lowly Bulls. "This is not about pushing X's and O's around. It's about playing at the end.

"We've been there five times at the end in the nine [straight] losses and either choked or felt pressure or made a mistake. I'm going to keep leaning on them. I'm not going to allow them to wimp out on this and succumb to pressure. The pressure is more from the consequences.

"What's the consequence, that people think poorly of you, people boo you, the media writes bad about you? Who the hell cares? This is more of an individual thing of going out and keeping composed at the end."

Michael Jordan's comeback tour rolls into Miami tonight, certainly with a sense of anticipation but without much of the mystery that surrounded his preseason visit in October.

A few things have become clear:

Jordan can still dominate, just not as consistently.
He has topped 40 points once (44 against Utah) and 30 points on seven occasions. His 25.7 scoring average is down from his 31.5 career mark, but still seventh in the NBA -- behind league leader Kobe Bryant (27.4).

Jordan, who won 10 scoring titles with Chicago, was in vintage form (30 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals) in Wednesday's win at Philadelphia.

``He completely controlled the game,'' Sixers coach Larry Brown said. ``I'm amazed. I can't imagine anyone taking three years off of anything and playing like that.''

But there also have been a few clunkers -- 5 for 26 shooting against Seattle, 8 for 26 vs. Indiana and 9 for 24 Tuesday at Cleveland.

According to guard Bimbo Coles, Michael Jordan has lost more than the hops. The fear factor that accompanied Jordan is no longer there.

"When Michael got the ball before," said Coles, "guys were scared to death because of what he could do to you when he elevated.

"Now, he settles for the jumper."

Jordan, 38, looked as frustrated as he's ever looked during the Cavaliers' 94-75 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night. He missed 15 of 24 shots from the field, including one off an alley-oop pass that he would have dunked with his right elbow years ago. And he failed to get to the free-throw line for the first time in 111 games dating to March 1997.

"He's still good," said Coles, "but he is not the same player he once was."

The legs may be shot, but the appeal remains. Wesley Person, accompanied by his 6-year-old son Wesley Jr., visited Jordan afterward in the Wizards locker room. Junior was wearing a Wizards jersey, with Jordan's No. 23 on it, and exited with an autographed basketball.

There is a game Saturday which will be televised nationally and should command great national interest.

It will carry possible championship implications and provide the latest chapter in a fierce, long-standing rivalry.

It's Florida against Tennessee. What did you think I meant, the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards?

While the Gators and Volunteers are squaring off in Gainesville for a spot in the Southeastern Conference title game and causing Mick Hubert to annoyingly exclaim "Oh, my" another zillion times, the Magic will have to settle for this small solace: As disappointing as the first four weeks of the NBA regular season have been for them, they're still better off thus far than Michael Jordan and the Wiz Kids.

Going into Wednesday night, the Wizards had stumbled to a 3-10 record since Jordan came out of retirement. That puts them barely ahead of the Chicago Bulls, who continue to be a total disgrace in their post-MJ existence.

By the way, NBC remains stuck with showing Jordan's first trip to Chicago as a visiting player Jan. 19 -- a game which only Ahmad Rashad could love.

Oh, my.

Don't look now, but the Wizards have won just four of their first 14 games, and two of those victories have come against the Sixers. The Wizards, you might recall, won 19 games last season; the Sixers won 56 and went to the NBA Finals.

Never mind that the Sixers' Allen Iverson scored a game-high 40 points. This was reminiscent of the early days of Iverson's dynamic career, when he would put up imposing numbers and his team would get rocked. Whatever the Sixers did wrong in Sunday's loss in Toronto seemed to carry over, like some insidious wave of ineptitude.

The Sixers gave up 25 points on 21 turnovers, and despite pressing, forced a modest 10 turnovers by the Wizards. And while the Sixers finished with a 45-36 advantage on the glass, center Dikembe Mutombo - their best rebounder - took just five and never really got involved on either end of the floor.

"We played like a bunch of strangers on both ends,'' Brown said. "We're not playing like a team on either end. There's no aggressive defense, no continuity on offense. We had 16 assists, and that's like average. Can't have that. Can't have 16 assists and 21 turnovers. That's why we shoot such a low percentage. We don't create turnovers and allow ourselves to get easy baskets. Offensively, we're just out of sync.

A night after saying his team ''stinks,'' Michael Jordan scored 30 points as the Washington Wizards defeated the 76ers 94-87 on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

Allen Iverson scored 40 points and Derrick Coleman added 15 for the Sixers. The defending Eastern Conference champions have lost two straight after winning seven in a row.

Washington won for just the second time in its last 10 games.

After Tuesday night's 94-75 loss at Cleveland, Jordan ripped his teammates for their lack of urgency and lackluster play on defense.

''I don't see anyone covering my back as everyone probably expected me to cover theirs,'' Jordan said.

Jordan came in shooting a career-low 40.2 percent and went 11-of-27 from the floor.

The Sixers went more than four minutes without a point in the fourth quarter, and the Wizards opened an 87-76 lead with 4:13 left, capped by consecutive jumpers from Jordan and Richard Hamilton, who had 28 points.

A free throw by Jordan made it 88-76 with 2:58 left, and Philadelphia didn't get closer than five points the rest of the game.