Jordan May Not Be the Only Center of Attraction for Bulls

The spotlight is on Michael Jordan during the Chicago Bulls’ playoff series against the New York Knicks, but don’t forget about center Bill Cartwright.

Cartwright, who spent nine seasons with the Knicks before being traded to the Bulls last summer for Charles Oakley, also figures to play a key role.

In the Bulls’ 120-109 overtime victory Tuesday night, Cartwright had 18 points, 14 rebounds and four assists.

In the regular season, Cartwright averaged 12.4 points a game--but 16 against the Knicks.

Trivia time: What National Basketball Assn. team drew the largest crowds on the road during the regular season?

Trivia time II: What NBA team drew the smallest crowds on the road.

Bo, oh, Bo: How tough is Bo Jackson? Consider this:

He broke a bat during the Kansas City Royals’ 3-1 victory over Cleveland Tuesday night, but not in the usual way. Jackson broke the bat over his right thigh after striking out on a 3-2 pitch by Keith Atherton to end an eighth-inning rally.

Jackson took a frustrated hop away from the plate and slammed his bat against his thigh.

The bat shattered into two pieces, about 12 inches up the handle. Jackson dropped the pieces along the sideline and went out to his left-field position.

Nothing’s routine: New York Mets shortstop Kevin Elster’s streak of 88 games without an error, a major league record for a shortstop, ended Tuesday night--on a remarkably routine play.

Elster dropped a two-hop grounder hit directly at him by Barry Larkin in the ninth inning of a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The ball came up on him, deflected off his glove and hit him in the chin. He recovered but Larkin beat the throw to first by a step.

“I can’t believe I did it on that play,” Elster said. “It’s not like it was a tough chance. It was an easy two-hopper. It was the ninth inning. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Numbers aren’t everything: K. C. Jones, who was part of the Boston Celtic dynasty that won eight consecutive NBA championships from 1959 to 1966 and of course later became the team’s coach, did not have impressive statistics as a player.

Jones averaged only 7.4 points a game and had a shooting percentage of 38.7. But this week he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Said Celtic President Red Auerbach: “Maybe K. C. didn’t score a lot. But the way I judge a player is, when I put him in the game, did the score go up or down in our favor? When K. C. was in there, the score usually went up in our favor.”

Trivia answer: The Chicago Bulls, who averaged 17,573, which tells you something about Jordan’s value.

Trivia answer II: The Sacramento Kings, who averaged 13,590, followed by the Clippers at 13,914, Miami at 13,928, and Charlotte at 13,960. Charlotte, however, led the league in home attendance with an average of 23,172.

Quotebook Pedro Guerrero, on sportswriters: “Sometimes they write what I say and not what I mean.”