Washington ? Rashard Lewis’ career night turned into victory thanks to two anomalies – a Michael Jordan-led comeback fell short, and Jerry Stackhouse missed two critical free throws.

Lewis scored a career-high 37 points on 16-for-19 shooting and had seven rebounds, helping the Seattle SuperSonics hold off the Washington Wizards 101-95 Tuesday night.

“The basket was so wide open to me,” Lewis said. “I was feeling my jump shot. I had a nice stroke going, so I was just letting it fly.”

Jordan had a season-high 27 points on 13-for-22 shooting in 31 minutes and scored 10 of the last 14 points for the Wizards, who cut an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to one before Lewis, Predag Drobnjak and Brent Barry made big shots to seal the victory.

But most agonizing for Jordan were the two minutes he sat out in the fourth quarter as coach Doug Collins kept to a rotation that limits the 39-year-old guard’s playing time. Jordan returned to start the rally with 7:37 to play and the score 85-75.

“I didn’t want to go out, obviously,” Jordan said. “Doug used his judgment. That’s just the nature of me. When it gets to the situation where I feel like I can make a difference, obviously I want to be in there. So when the time comes for me getting in, I certainly try to make things happen.”

The Wizards missed their best chance to the take the lead when Stackhouse – 65-for-69 from the line up to that point – missed a pair with Seattle holding a one-point lead with 2:26 left. Stackhouse had his worst game since coming to Washington: 6-for-19 from the field for 13 points.

“I can’t ask for a better situation than on the free-throw line with an opportunity to go up,” Stackhouse said. “It just didn’t happen tonight. I can’t say anything other than that. It was a tough night at the office.”

Larry Hughes had 19 points, five assists and four steals, and rookie Jared Jeffries had career highs of 14 points and eight rebounds for the Wizards, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Wizards guard Michael Jordan looks for passing room around SuperSonics guard Brent Barry during the first quarter of Tuesday's game at the MCI Center in Washington.

Gary Payton had 14 points and 16 assists for the Sonics, who shot 55 percent to finish 3-2 on their East Coast road trip. He became the 11th player in NBA history to reach 7,000 assists.

Pacers 95, Cavaliers 75

Indianapolis – Reserve Ron Artest scored 22 points, leading Indiana past Cleveland, who benched leading scorer Ricky Davis early in the game.

The game went much more smoothly for the Pacers, off to their best start in the team’s NBA history at 6-1 overall and 5-0 at home. They’ve done it without Reggie Miller and Austin Croshere, both on the injured list.

Darius Miles led the Cavaliers with 19 points, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 17. Jumaine Jones grabbed 11 rebounds.

Raptors 115, Magic 109

Orlando, Fla. – Jerome Williams scored a career-high 30 points, and injury-riddled Toronto rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Orlando.

Williams’ layup with 57.8 seconds remaining broke a tie at 109, and he hit a pair of free throws with 11 seconds to go after Orlando’s Pat Garrity missed a wide-open 3-pointer.

Portland's Arvydas Sabonis, left, grabs a rebound from Houston's Yao Ming during Tuesday's game in Houston.

Alvin Williams added 32 points, also a career high, and Morris Peterson had 23 points with a career-high 12 rebounds. Tracy McGrady had 38 points for Orlando.

Toronto was without starters Vince Carter (strained left quadriceps tendon), Antonio Davis (strained left ribcage) and Lamond Murray (torn ligament in foot). Also out were Jelani McCoy (back), Eric Montross (fractured foot) and Nate Huffman (right knee surgery).

Jazz 108, Knicks 87

New York – John Stockton had 10 of his 12 points and four of his seven assists in the third as Utah went ahead by as many as 30. The Knicks have lost seven of their first eight games.

Karl Malone scored 21, Andrei Kirilenko added 20 and Matt Harpring 19 for the Jazz, who won on the road for the first time this season after losing their first four.

Clarence Weatherspoon had 17 and Lee Nailon 15 for the Knicks.

Clippers 101, Heat 92

Miami – Elton Brand had 25 points and 20 rebounds, and Los Angeles relied almost entirely on its starters.

Andre Miller had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds as the Clippers won their second straight road game. Corey Maggette added 19 points, Michael Olowokandi 18 and Eric Piatkowski 13.

Trailing by 10 points in the third quarter, the Clippers closed on a 25-8 run to take a 73-66 lead at the end of the period.

Pistons 93, Hornets 87

Auburn Hills, Mich. – Chucky Atkins returned to the starting lineup and scored 20 points, helping Detroit beat New Orleans.

Jon Barry scored 17 points for Detroit, and Richard Hamilton had 16 and Corliss Williamson added 12.

Jamal Mashburn scored 17 for New Orleans, but only four after the first quarter. Baron Davis had 13 and Jamaal Magliore 12.

Rockets 86, Blazers 83

Houston – Steve Francis overcame a painful third-quarter fall to score Houston’s final 16 points.

Francis, who scored 18 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, made a layup with 20 seconds left to put the Rockets ahead to stay at 85-83 and closed out with a free throw.

Yao Ming played 15 minutes for the Rockets and scored seven points with four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.

Eddie Griffin had 14 points and Kenny Thomas added 12 for the Rockets. Portland had four players with 12 points each: Bonzi Wells, Dale Davis, Scottie Pippen and Arvydas Sabonis.

Hawks 95, Lakers 83

Los Angeles – Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 26 points and 10 rebounds, helping Atlanta extend the Lakers’ losing streak to four.

The three-time defending champion Lakers (2-6), who have played without star center Shaquille O’Neal all season, are off to their worst start through eight games in 36 years.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 21 points, six rebounds and eight assists, but made only 8-of-22 shots. Brian Shaw added 17 points.