NBA Roundup : Chicago Defeats New York

With the game tied and time running out, the Chicago Bulls predictably went to Michael Jordan Thursday night at Chicago. But in an unexpected sequence, Scottie Pippen, making only his second start, scored the winning basket.

With five seconds left against the New York Knicks, Jordan missed, and Horace Grant then missed the subsequent tip-in attempt.

Pippen got the rebound and, having no other options, flipped in the winning basket at the buzzer, giving his team a 108-106 victory.

“I saw 2 seconds on the clock when the ball was bouncing off the rim,” Pippen said. “I was thinking about just getting the ball up to the basket.”

Pippen, who scored a season-high 23 points, replaced Brad Sellers in the starting lineup Tuesday, when the Bulls lost at home to Cleveland, 107-96.

Knick Coach Rick Pitino was ejected from Thursday’s game with 7:56 left when Patrick Ewing was called for his fifth foul. Pitino received two quick technicals from referee Ted Bernhardt and was ejected. “It is the ref’s first year and it was a rookie mistake,” he said.

Jordan, who had 37 points, scored with 44 seconds left to tie the score, 106-106. Ewing missed a shot for New York with 22 seconds left, setting up the Bulls’ final possession.

The score was tied, 90-90, when the foul was called on Ewing. Pitino received the two technical fouls for arguing the call, and Craig Hodges made two free throws to give the Bulls a 92-90 lead.

The Bulls led, 102-98, but Gerald Wilkins made a three-point shot. With 59 seconds left, Ewing made a bank shot and free throw to give the Knicks a 106-104 lead.

The Knicks were led by Ewing with 23 points. Johnny Newman and Wilkins each had 15 points.

Dallas 131, Boston 115--Derek Harper scored 11 of his team’s season-high 40 first-quarter points as the Mavericks, playing at home, defeated the Celtics for only the second time.

Dallas, which had dropped 15 of 16 previous meetings against Boston, made 9 of its first 10 shots and 13 of 16 to build leads of as much as 15 points in the first quarter.

Boston, losers of three straight, is 4-7 in December, and will have its first losing month since Larry Bird joined the team in 1979. Bird is sidelined after surgery on both feet.

The Mavericks had five players with 18 or more points, led by Rolando Blackman’s 32 points. The 131 points was a season-high for Dallas.

Kevin McHale had 29 for the Celtics.

Washington 126, Houston 109--Jeff Malone scored 24 of his 31 points in the second half, leading the Bullets to victory at Landover, Md.

Houston (18-10) had six straight victories, its longest streak since winning seven straight in November, 1985. The victory was the second straight for the Bullets, who had a season-high point total.

The Bullets (8-17) did not trail by more than two points in defeating the Rockets for the first time since Nov. 21, 1986. Houston had won the last 3 games against the Bullets.

Malone’s 14 third-quarter points enabled the Bullets to maintain a 7-point edge, 86-79, going into the final period. He added 4 points early in the fourth quarter as Washington stretched its lead to 93-81 with 10:15 left, leading by as many as 17 points in the final period.

Otis Thorpe led the Rockets with 26 points, and Sleepy Floyd had a season-high 25.

Seattle 129, Miami 99--Dale Ellis scored 8 points during a 16-point Seattle run in the second quarter and Alton Lister set a club record with 9 blocked shots as the SuperSonics defeated the Heat at Seattle.

Miami led, 34-31, after a 14-2 run led by John Shasky’s 6 points before the Sonics’ spurt.

Seattle forced 35 Miami turnovers and blocked 14 shots. Lister’s 9 beat a record he set twice in 1987 with 8.

Ellis and Xavier McDaniel each had 25 points. Jon Sundvold led Miami with 23.