Michael Jordan didn't exactly look like the No. 23 of old and he missed his biggest shot of the night in his return to the NBA.

Looking more like a promising playmaker than one of the game's greats, Jordan spent the majority of his minutes at point guard in his regular-season debut for the Washington Wizards after a three-year retirement.

He scored 19 points and passed the ball as much as he shot it, getting six assists but making a few key mistakes that the old Jordan might not have made in a 93-91 loss Tuesday to the New York Knicks.

Jordan had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer in front of the Knicks bench with 18 seconds left, but missed the shot ? one of 14 misses in 21 attempts. He also had an air ball and a missed layup in the first quarter and a turnover late in the fourth that diminished a final stat line that included five rebounds and four steals in 37 minutes.

They threw the biggest, hottest, Everybody-Who's-Anybody-Will-Be-There Mega-Event comeback concert on the world's grandest stage Tuesday night.

Knicks 93, Wizards 91.

After all the bald-headed hysteria, that's what the night of nights delivered. A basketball game between two teams nobody will confuse with the Lakers.

Well, maybe the Minneapolis Lakers.

And in other news, Michael Jordan returned.

The Big Story never really materialized. Jordan had 19 points, but he made only seven of 21 shots. When the game was his for the taking, Jordan either missed or passed or did little to justify the fact the Earth reportedly stopped spinning for three hours.

Michael Jordan's long awaited return to the NBA last night didn't have the fairy tale ending so many Washington Wizards fans thought it would. Jordan struggled in a soldout (19,763) Madison Square Garden, shooting 7-for-21 and finishing with 19 points as the Wizards fell to the New York Knicks 93-91 in their season opener. Jordan led the Wizards with a team-high six assists.

It was supposed to be Michael Jordan's magical night, a comeback of mythical magnitude for the game's brightest star in his first real game in three seasons. With Madison Square Garden the stage and New York the backdrop, the leading man had everything in place to captivate.

Everything but his A-game.

Jordan's bad pass in the fourth quarter resulted in a basket by Allan Houston and he missed two clutch shots, the last of which was a three-pointer in the waning seconds that could have tied the game to cap a rusty-at-best showing in Washington's 93-91 season-opening loss to the Knicks.

Michael Jordan. The New York Knicks. Madison Square Garden.

The drama Jordan often produced against the Knicks on their home court in his past lives with the Bulls makes for wonderful memories, the stuff parents in Chicago still tell their kids about. But the 38-year-old Jordan, who returns tonight to the site of some of his most impressive accomplishments to launch his second comeback from retirement -- this time as a member of the Washington Wizards -- insists he is not seeking more material for his legacy.

Four years ago, the Nets jumped from 26 wins to 43, a 17-game, one-season improvement. Last year, they repeated the 26-win part. Now, can they duplicate the massive increase?
Nope. But they might come close. This is a revamped team (again), one revolving around triple-double talents of acquisition Jason Kidd and an undeniably impressive starting unit. Nets made bold and daring moves for more talent, more depth, more athleticism; too bad they couldn't add experience and consistent scoring on the bench. But this team believes in itself and could be a shockingly improved item.

Latrell Sprewell calls him the best to ever play the game. But he still doesn't feel Michael Jordan is great enough to lift the moribund Wizards to a playoff berth.
While Jeff Van Gundy, who once called Jordan "a con man," continues to anoint the Wizards a playoff team, Sprewell disgrees, making a strong point that every team is going to go after the Wizards like it's a playoff game, with the Knicks getting first crack Tuesday night.

"I think it will be difficult," Spree said. "They're a young team, haven't played many years together. Everybody is going to try to do their best against Michael anyway. Even though they're not defending champs, he's going to face teams who are going to play him that way - hard - and the games are going to be intense. He doesn't have the surrounding cast."

Throughout practice today, Jeff Van Gundy pushed the Knicks hard, pounding into them again and again the defensive mentality that they need and have lacked at times in the preseason. But never once did he mention the assignment that will face the team when the real season begins Tuesday.

The subject of Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards was left for another day, a time when the Knicks' own problems had been solved. If the Knicks could not slow down the Nets in their final preseason game, a 100- 84 loss on Thursday, could not handle the likes of Kenyon Martin and Todd MacCulloch, how could they think about the return of the greatest player the game has seen?

The task for the Knicks today was to remedy their own ills.

GM Scott Layden should hope Latrell Sprewell doesn't get a job covering Knicks for The Post. All preseason, Sprewell dodged company line, his honesty brutal at times.
Sprewell's tell-it-like-it-is approach about the undersized Knicks' post problems enlivened an otherwise drab preseason during which Jeff Van Gundy was uncharacteristically dull, more Van Blandy than Van Grumpy.

Earlier this week, Sprewell, still disappointed the club didn't get Chris Webber, was asked if he considered the Knicks a title contender. Sprewell told The Post, "It's going to be tough. You don't expect that right now. This year is a little different. We didn't make any moves in the offseason to make us better. We're going to be an underdog against a lot of teams we play. But sometimes being the underdog isn't a bad thing."

When the Philadelphia 76ers jumped to a 10-0 start last season, they made it clear in November where they expected to be in June -- at the NBA Finals. And they made it.

It's hard to imagine a repeat now -- from them or anyone else in the Atlantic Division.

The Sixers already have conceded that a quick start will be next to impossible after an unproductive training camp and sloppy exhibition schedule. Their starting lineup, riddled with injuries, spent more game time in street clothes than in Sixers jerseys.

They will need to be introduced at the regular-season opener.

"I know for sure, we're not going to have that kind of start again," admitted forward George Lynch. "For most of us, the first five games [of the regular season] are going to be getting back in shape."

If Allen Iverson starts the season on the sideline as expected, still recovering from off-season elbow surgery, the Sixers will give up their role as the favorites, setting the stage for a real rock climb to the top of the Atlantic.