Full Game: The Master's Fourth Quarter Lesson | Michael Jordan vs Tracy McGrady (January 16, 2003)

This full-game archive captures a late-career masterpiece of strategy and execution from Michael Jordan during his final season with the Washington Wizards. Facing the NBA’s leading scorer, Tracy McGrady, Jordan and the Wizards used a dominant fourth-quarter performance to silence the Orlando Magic on the Wizards' home court, providing a clear lesson in veteran leadership and defensive intensity.

In what was a tightly contested affair for three quarters, the matchup was framed as a battle between an aging superstar and his heir apparent. McGrady, on his way to his first scoring title, was electric, finishing the night with 31 points. Jordan, at 39 years old, played the role of veteran teacher, posting 32 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds. The turning point came in the final period, when Washington unleashed a suffocating defensive scheme designed to neutralize Orlando's primary weapon.

The Wizards blitzed McGrady with traps, forcing the ball out of his hands and holding him to just four points in the fourth quarter. The defensive shift ignited a decisive 23-4 run that sealed the 108-93 victory for Washington. "We really focused in on T-Mac," Jordan stated after the game. "We know he's the key to their offense. We trapped him. We tried to make him a passer." McGrady's frustration was palpable. "I couldn't get a touch," he said. "I just felt they did a great job of denying me the ball."

For Jordan, the game was a chance to prove he could still dominate against the league's best. "It's always a challenge when you play a great young player like that," Jordan remarked. "You want to see how you match up. You want to see if you can still compete against the best in the league." The sentiment was echoed by Magic Head Coach Doc Rivers, who saw the loss as an instructional moment for his young squad. "This was a good lesson for us," Rivers said. "This is how you lose games. They did it the right way; we did it the wrong way."