There was a fellow screaming into his cell phone on the corner of 51st and Fifth Avenue early Tuesday afternoon. He got the tickets, he was explaining with some excitement to someone.

"No," he exclaimed. "Not the Yankees' tickets. The Jordan tickets!"

Michael Jordan Returns: The Second Coming wasn't, of course, the only must-see show off-Broadway on Tuesday night.

But after months of will he or won't he, rumor and hearsay, and more buzz than can be delivered by a triple espresso laced with ephedrine, it was the must-see show. Kind of like a one-evening engagement with Streisand. The Yankees would play another night.

So they crowded around the blue police barricades that circled Madison Square Garden as tip-off neared. Those who couldn't get in, just wanted to be there. Just wanted to say they were close to the show.

Michael Jordan's return obviously adds fuel to the debate about which player will be the most electrifying in the NBA this season.

Can Jordan regain his crown from the top contenders during his retirement ? namely Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter and Allen Iverson? Only the one-on-one battles will help answer that.

But before the foursome takes to the court, we can at least decide which player has the most electrifying Web site.

Unfortunately, only Jordan has an official site, meaning Bryant, Carter and Iverson must rely on their best available fan sites. But don't let the difference fool you ? a player's official site doesn't necessarily mean a better one.

With that in mind, here's how they rank:

Adrian Griffin has had back problems before, so he's been through this kind of pain. That's why he knew he had to sit out Tuesday's season opener against the Detroit Pistons ? and why, he said, he's not going to rush back to the lineup.

"I have sort of a history of back problems," Griffin said.

Griffin's early target to return is the end of the week, although he knows not to go too fast. He suffered from back problems last season in Boston, but said this injury, which he suffered in workouts after Saturday's practice, is not the same.

"This is more spasms," Griffin said. "It was a sharp pain before."

Without Griffin, Mavericks coach Don Nelson said he will have to alter his game plan and rotation patterns.

You knew it would be different when Dirk Nowitzki addressed the crowd before the game in his diesel-driven German, apparently something about schnitzel or strudel, maybe.

You knew it'd be different when Tim Hardaway translated.

"Yeah," Tim Bug chirped into the microphone. "What he said."

At times Tuesday, you didn't know whether to laugh or salute in the Mavericks' official American Airlines Center debut.

One minute Nowitzki and Hardaway are playing like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

The next, the President of the United States is talking to an announced crowd of 19,200 in a taped message on the video screen, assuring a nation's sports fans about the importance of games in our culture and what they can teach us since the world changed Sept. 11.

It won't be like this every night. They won't have the pleasure of starting Dirk Nowitzki at center because the other team doesn't really have one. They won't be able to start Nowitzki at center, get a one-point first half from him and win comfortably anyway.

The first basketball success of record at American Airlines Center could not have been possible without the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons were, uh, handy to have on hand in Tuesday night's season opener, showing up short on size themselves.

The Mavericks, you see, are still trying to determine exactly what they have in the middle, in this new zone world, even after a month together. Comforting, then, to see an opening-night foe that wouldn't press them too much for immediate answers.

"This is a learning process for all of us," Shawn Bradley said, savoring Dallas' 94-87 season-starting triumph and the defense and rebounding he contributed to it. "Things are changing and they're going to keep changing. That's what happens when anything's new."

It is no exaggeration, admittedly early as it is, to say that concern is what the Mavericks have in the middle, and not because they're even thinking about Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan yet. They're actually not unlike the other prime tenant in the new building. As with the Stars, the Mavericks need quality centermen just to stay where they are on the West's best-of list.

The feel was different. It was as simple as that. Everything about the Mavericks' first game was different. There was a new arena, a new season and most of all, new expectations.

"We had 19,000-plus in the stands, so that's an indication that things were going to be different," Michael Finley said.

Different expectations, but same old outcome. The Mavericks started their season with a 94-87 triumph over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night in front of a sellout crowd of 19,200 at American Airlines Center.

It was opening night at the new arena, and you know what that meant.

Anthems aplenty. Bunting hanging from every balcony. A ponytail - gasp! - hanging from the back of former owner Don Carter's hair.

Dirk Nowitzki - no field goals at halftime. The Mavericks, jittery and uncertain in the opening minutes, trailing the Detroit Pistons at the intermission.

And, of course, 19,200 fans, all asking the new season's most intriguing question - how do we find the restrooms?

In time, the Mavericks also found the basket, and the home team christened the American Airlines Center in acceptable style Tuesday night, choking off the Pistons, 94-87.

Greg Buckner vowed he would be ready to go when the Mavericks tipped off the regular season Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. And true to his word, the third-year guard with the bum right ankle suited up for the opener against Detroit.

While Buckner's willingness to shake off the injury and play wasn't a shock, coach Don Nelson's decision to start the defensive spark plug, considering his tender ankle, came as somewhat of a surprise.

That move might come back to haunt Nelson and Buckner, who limped off the floor 10 minutes into the game after aggravating the injury. Team doctors discovered a mild sprain, and Buckner plans to make the Mavs' upcoming three-game road trip, which starts Thursday in Philadelphia.

His playing status is uncertain.

"This is very frustrating," Buckner said after the Mavericks' 94-87 victory over the Pistons. "I'm beginning to think it ain't meant to be."

Darrick Martin

Point guard Darrick Martin had to laugh when asked if he had ever made a team before with one hand.

Martin fractured his right (non-shooting) hand Oct. 2, the opening day of training camp. Before Tuesday's season opener against Detroit, Martin said he had 10 more days of rehabilitation remaining before he can engage in full- contact workouts.

"I'm anxious to get out there and play with the guys," Martin said. "I was hoping I was going to be able to stay here, because I think this is going to be a good situation for me."

The Mavericks signed Martin to a one-year, $590,850 contract on Aug. 2. Without playing one preseason game or going through a full practice, Martin beat out Khalid El-Amin for the third point-guard spot.

Despite not being able to go through any contact workouts, Martin was on the court every day working in as much of his game as possible and learning as much of coach Don Nelson's system as possible.

"I love to play this game," Martin said. "If I were to play this game for a dollar, I'd do it."

Najera frustrated

Last year at this time, Eduardo Najera was a training-camp darling, playing so much better than the Mavericks' three highly touted first-round draft picks that he opened the season as a starter at small forward.

But lingering groin injuries hindered Najera's progress during this year's training camp. What's more, the second Mexican-born player ever drafted by the NBA started the season Tuesday on the injured list with tendinitis of his left knee.

"It's very difficult for me to go through this, especially since I was expecting more out of me," Najera said. "I was expecting to do better things and I haven't been able to show that yet.

"But it's a long season. You never know what's going to happen. I'd rather start slow during the season and end up improving a lot later in the season than I did last year, where I started pretty good at the beginning and I ended up not playing a whole lot."