On Wednesday night, the Charlotte Hornets began a critical stretch in their season, with a 99-93 home victory over the Washington Wizards.

That was the first game of an eight-game stretch during which they will play seven games in the Charlotte Coliseum. But Wednesday night's game, played before a sellout crowd, isn't likely to be the norm for the Hornets. Many of the fans came to see Michael Jordan.

How many of them will come back tonight, when the Hornets host the Milwaukee Bucks at 7:30, is uncertain.

But it is apparent, if the Hornets are to make a move in the standings, it needs to start tonight and carry over into January, when they will play nine games at home. Beginning with Golden State on Jan. 3, the Hornets will play five straight at home in nine days.

"We have to start winning some home games," Hornets head coach Paul Silas said. "This is when we've got to make a move, and I think we will."

That may be tough. The Hornets haven't won back-to-back home games since the first two games of the season.

The Hornets and Silas left the floor Wednesday night hoping their performance will counteract some of the negative publicity surrounding the team and put some backsides in some seats.

"They came to see Michael Jordan, and I can understand that," said Baron Davis, who scored 15 points and added 15 assists to lead the Hornets to just their fourth win in 11 home games. "It would be nice to have a full house of our own now and then."

It would certainly help their performance.

The Hornets were noticeably energized Wednesday night, even though the crowd of 23,799 wasn't much more enthusiastic than the 10,000 or so who have been showing up all along.

Going into Wednesday's game, the Hornets were averaging 10,180 fans per game, 28th out of 29 NBA teams. But the actual turnstile count was an even more depressing 7,563.

Even with the Wizards and Jordan in town, not even Hugo the Hornet could coax much noise from the crowd when he held up a sign that read "Go" on one side and "Hornets" on the other. His efforts to get the crowd to yell those words late in the close game were in vain.

Still, the Hornets put together an excellent performance, beating the Wizards on the boards 44-22 and shooting a season high 59.7 percent. The Hornets also outscored the Wizards 34-22 in the paint and got 33 points from the bench.

"There was a lot at stake, and we responded well," said center Elden Campbell, who had his eighth double-double of the year with 17 points and 13 rebounds. "We wanted to come out and put on a good show and hopefully win some fans back, and I think we did.

"It's great when you can play your best in a situation like that. Hopefully, we can build on it."

The Milwaukee Bucks come in tonight on a two-game winning streak, with a 16-9 record and trailing Eastern Conference leaders Boston and New Jersey by just half-a-game.

"We always have trouble with them," said Silas, whose team lost to the Bucks in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season. "They give us a lot of matchup problems."

Ray Allen didn't play in the Bucks win over Atlanta Wednesday night, which brought a smile to Silas' face. Allen could be back tonight.

Silas just hopes this home stretch can give his team some spark.

"They've shown a lot of character through all the problems," Silas said, alluding to injuries to Jamal Mashburn and George Lynch and the less than outstanding support at home.

"They've never stopped playing hard, and we're not getting blown out in the losses."

Davis, who played through an injured knee Wednesday night, missed practice Thursday, but is expected to play tonight.

Davis is averaging 20 points and 8.5 assists and leads the team in minutes at 41 a game.