The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Credit Michael Jordan for handing the Boston Celtics their worst loss in franchise history.

After all, not only did Jordan score 21 points in 21 minutes in Washington's 114-69 rout Wednesday night, he also assembled the players that did the rest of the damage.

"In terms of what we all envisioned, in putting this team together, tonight it worked perfectly," Jordan said.

All the parts clicked. Jordan found chemistry with Jerry Stackhouse, who had 22 points and 10 assists. Kwame Brown, a bust as a rookie a year ago, scored 20 points and blocked six shots in his second solid game in a row. The Wizards shot 52 percent and outrebounded Boston 59-31.

"That's as good as I think I've ever had a team play - just in every phase of the game," coach Doug Collins said.

The Wizards were a disorganized mess the night before, with Jordan looking all of his 39 years and no one shooting well in an opening loss in Toronto. Things can change a lot in 24 hours, and Jordan was so emotionally involved that he was vehemently arguing a foul call with his team up 27 points late in the third quarter.

Jordan and the Wizards never let up, even as the Celtics seemed to be trying to run out the clock by taking bad long-range shots that kept the ball in play.

"Tonight we got it handed to us," said Antoine Walker, who had seven turnovers, scored 12 points and was 5-of-16 from the field.

In the only other games Thursday night, Sacramento beat Portland 100-72, and Atlanta defeated Utah 105-98.

The 45-point margin topped Boston's previous worst regular-season loss, 44 points in a 128-84 defeat at Portland on Jan. 4, 1977. It was also the third-largest margin of victory in Wizards history.

The Celtics are 0-2, having lost at home to Chicago on Wednesday night.

"We're not panicking," said Paul Pierce, who scored 12 points on 3-for-16 shooting. "We're just out of the gates a bit slow."

Jordan scored just eight points and missed a dunk in the second half of the Toronto game. Against the Celtics, he was 8-of-15 from the field, 5-of-5 from the free-throw line and had four rebounds and five assists.

At the end of the first half, Jordan made two free throws, raced to his right to steal the inbounds pass, pumped and made a 21-foot jumper - complete with a little kick - just before the halftime buzzer. The Wizards had an 18-point lead as he left the court with a big smile to thunderous applause.

The four-point sequence put the Wizards ahead 58-40. The Celtics never threatened in the second half, when several of the big moments belonged to Brown.

The 20-year-old forward made a three-point play, dunked off a feed from Jordan and had a stellar sequence in which he blocked Walker at one end and made a jumper at the other to put the Wizards ahead by 20.

Jordan had another of his old flourishes at the end of the third quarter, making three straight tough jumpers in a 13-4 run.

After that, it was just a matter of finishing the worst game in the Celtics' 56-year history in the NBA

"Trust me, I never in a million years dreamed that this would have happened tonight," Collins said. "I had breakfast with my wife and I said, 'I hope we score 70 points tonight - two more than last night - at least show some improvement."'

A moment of silence was held before the game for Run-DMC rapper Jam Master Jay, who was shot to death in New York on Wednesday. Run-DMC had been scheduled to perform at halftime.

Hawks 105, Jazz 98

At Atlanta, Glenn Robinson scored 30 points and Jason Terry added 21 points and 13 assists in the Hawks' home opener.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who missed the opener because of a sore back, scored 10 of Atlanta's points in a 15-6 run at the start of the third period for a 65-52 lead. He finished with 17 points.

Karl Malone led Utah with 20 points.