WASHINGTON -- You can nit-pick about some of the small things, but the bare essential is that the Warriors handled the Washington Wizards and Michael Jordan on Friday night at MCI Center. That's right, "handled."

The Warriors went on the road and did the kinds of things good teams do, polishing off the Wizards in almost routine fashion, 109-100.

My, how things have changed. After seven consecutive losing seasons, including a horrific past four, it is now Warriors' players who are saying things such as, "This is a team we knew we should have beaten."