It was a chant loud enough to reach the United Center, where echoes of past Michael Jordan uprisings have faded to whispers.

''We've got Michael! We've got Michael!'' roared through the MCI Center Saturday night as Jordan played in his first home game since Game 5 of the 1998 NBA Finals.

After Jordan's lackluster season-opener in New York last Tuesday, the response to the chant could have been, ''That's your problem, that's your problem.''

But critics are going to have to start looking beyond Jordan's pedestrian shooting percentage and realize the old dog is teaching the Washington Wizards some new tricks, like winning.

Washington (2-1) overcame a 13-point deficit and cruised to a 90-76 victory over the injury-ravaged Philadelphia 76ers (0-3), who are missing three of their best players, including reigning MVP Allen Iverson.

Despite the injuries, the Sixers are the defending Eastern Conference champions while the Wizards are coming off a 19-win season. Go ahead and put an asterisk next to the result, but put it in the victory column for Washington, which has won two in a row.

''They didn't have three of their starters, but the positive is that these are the games we're supposed to win,'' Jordan said. ''This is a little misleading because they were missing their players, but in the past, Washington would have come in and not focused and lost the ballgame.''