CHARLOTTE

Were the Charlotte Hornets able to win back some fans with their performance Wednesday night in a 99-93 victory over a Washington Wizards' team that featured Michael Jordan?

Can the excitement generated Wednesday night serve as a springboard to bigger and livelier crowds the rest of the season?

Those were two unanswered questions yesterday as the Hornets prepared for tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Hornets parlayed Jordan's presence into their first sellout of the season, drawing a crowd of 23,799. They had averaged less than half that figure - 10,180 - in 10 previous home dates.

The hope before the game was that the Hornets would play well enough and hard enough to impress a captive audience, and they most certainly did that.

"When you play in front of a sellout crowd, it's just electric," Coach Paul Silas said yesterday. "You see all the people there, and it just moves you. There's nothing like it. On the other hand, when you come in and you can almost count the crowd on your hands, it's discouraging. So hopefully, they saw some good quality basketball, and they will respond and come back and root us on some more."

However, Silas admitted that he's not sure that will happen.

Attendance has dwindled in recent years, largely because of external factors that have little to do with Silas and his players, and Silas is realistic enough to know that fans who came to see Jordan won't necessarily come back to see Sam Cassell, Big Dog Robinson and Co. tonight.

"I'm hopeful, but I'm not all that optimistic, to tell the truth," Silas said. "I think this sellout was because of Mike. Everybody wanted to see Mike, they didn't necessarily want to see the Hornets. That's just the way it is. This was the place to be last night, but can you really translate that to 20,000 coming back tomorrow night? I don't know.

"Now, 15,000 would be nice. That would be a significant increase. That might say something. So we'll see."

Silas stressed that it is his job, and his players' jobs, to do their best regardless of the attendance. A nice winning streak couldn't hurt, and that's the kind of thing over which the Hornets have some control.

"We've got to continue to focus on winning," Silas said. "Regardless of whether the fans come or not, you've got to find a way. That's one of the things you do have control over. The encouraging thing to me is that this team has responded so far. They have a lot of character, and through all the problems that have beset us already, they've never quit playing hard.

"The fact is, we don't know what's going to transpire with the crowds from here on. If the crowds go back to where they were, it'll be a downer. But hopefully they will come back, and hopefully we will continue to respond, too."

Tonight's game will open a busy weekend for the Hornets, who are tied for eighth in the Eastern Conference at 13-15. They'll play at Washington on Saturday night.