It was almost like old times at the Charlotte Coliseum on Wednesday night.

Sellout crowd of 23,799.

Scalpers on every corner of Tyvola Road.

Michael Jordan in the house.

And a win for the Charlotte Hornets, 99-93 over Washington, snapping the Wizards' nine-game winning streak.

The Hornets, getting 15 points and 15 assists from Baron Davis, 17 points and 13 rebounds from Elden Campbell, 33 points from the bench and a 44-22 edge on the boards, ended their own two-game losing skid and climbed within a two games of .500 at 13-15.

There was no doubt it was Jordan the fans came to see. Signs in the stands welcomed him back to North Carolina. Some even were so bold as to suggest "Michael, save the Hornets." Every Jordan shot was greeted with an explosion of camera flashes. It seemed every breath he took drew a cheer.

That wasn't lost on Davis either, although he and his teammates enjoyed the full house, something they haven't seen in a while, except on the road.

"It's definitely good to see the people there," Davis said, "but they weren't really here to see us. They came to see Michael Jordan. If I was a fan, I'd have come to see him too.

"But we played hard tonight. The crowd inspired us. It was kind of like playing on the road.

"We may not have another sellout until Michael comes back, so we've got to learn to play in front of the 8,000 or 9,000 loyal fans we have."

No one played harder than Davis, who played 38 minutes despite banging a knee three minutes into the game. He said he wasn't himself the rest of the night. But he was on the floor when it mattered.

"He showed a lot of courage," Hornets head coach Paul Silas said. "He proved what kind of pro he is tonight."

Jordan proved he can still play, although his game has changed.

"His Airness" floats a lot closer to the ground these days, but he didn't disappoint, scoring 28 points. But every one of them came on jump shots or free throws. His 28 points came on 28 shots. He made 11.

The Wizards, with Jordan getting 15, led 57-52 at the half, after making 21 of 37 shots. They made just 14 of 41 in the second half, but Jordan said it was the defense, not the offense, that let them down.

"I think they got one point off the fast break early," Jordan said, "and that was one of our points of emphasis. We wanted to control tempo. After we built a lead, we lost some intensity. They got the lead, and we never really controlled it after that."

In the end, when the Wizards needed some magic to keep from falling to 14-13, Jordan couldn't produce. In fact, it was back-to-back Jordan turnovers that launched a Hornets surge in the third period.

With the Wizards up 67-59 with 5:48 left in the third, Jordan missed an 18-foot jump shot, got the ball back, then whipped a pass out of bounds. After the Hornets scored and the teams exchanged misses, Jordan turned it over again, and Davis converted a three-point play to slice the lead to 67-64.

Davis landed awkwardly on the drive along the baseline further adding to his knee problem, but he played on.

The Hornets outscored the Wizards 14-5 over the last 4:56 of the period to take a 73-72 lead into the fourth quarter. They never trailed again, thanks in part to a zone defense that sapped what little rhythm the Wizards had left.

"Zones are a lazy way to play defense," Jordan said. "I've never liked them."

After Jordan hit back-to-back jumpers to twice cut the lead to four, the last time at 84-80, the Hornets got a jumper from Robert "Tractor' Traylor. Jordan missed in the lane, and Davis converted another three-point play with 4:44 to go, giving Charlotte an 89-80 lead.

Jordan tried to get them back, hitting a jumper and two 3-pointers in the final 1:40, but Davis hit a 12-footer with 38 seconds left and two free throws in the final 23 seconds.

"When I took those free throws," Davis said, "I couldn't bend my knee all the way. I felt terrible."

The Hornets responded to the national TV exposure, the big crowd and the arrival of Jordan, which Silas hopes signals good things ahead.

"There's nothing like having a full house behind you," Silas said. "We have a key home stretch coming up in January, and winning at home in front of a packed house is a good way to start." The Hornets host Milwaukee on Friday night.