Bulls’ Troubles Don’t Extend to Their Star : Basketball: Chicago is stumbling a bit, but Michael Jordan is closing in on his fifth consecutive scoring title.

While the Chicago Bulls struggle to the NBA finish line like an exhausted marathoner, Michael Jordan is playing his best basketball of the season.

The Bulls, who won 26 consecutive home games from Dec. 14 through March 23, look vulnerable at Chicago Stadium now. They lost consecutive games to San Antonio and Philadelphia, then blew a big fourth-quarter lead against New York before winning by two points.

Jordan, though, is on a stretch drive to his fifth consecutive scoring title, averaging 34.8 points in a 10-game span to take a two-point lead over Karl Malone.

All of this reinforces what most people have believed all along -- that the Bulls are essentially a one-man team that will fold in the playoffs.

Which suits Jordan just fine.

“The media has always said that it can’t be done -- that you can’t win a scoring title and an NBA championship,” Jordan said. “That just makes me want to do it. It’s not a goal for me, but it is a hope.”

Not since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 has the scoring champion played for the NBA champion.

But are the Bulls, Central Division championships with the best record in the Eastern Conference, just a team that has Jordan plus a handful of guys from the YMCA?

Maybe they were in 1986-87, when Jordan averaged 37.1 of the Bulls’ 104.8 points and the team finished 40-42.

But this year, Scottie Pippen has been a big scorer behind Jordan, John Paxson and B.J. Armstrong are a strong combo at point guard, Bill Cartwright is a solid defender in the middle and Horace Grant is a consistent scorer and rebounder at power forward.

With Jordan leading the league with a 31-point average, six less than his career high, the Bulls are scoring 110 points and allowing 101, best differential in the NBA.

“Michael’s not scoring 35-37 points anymore, it’s closer to 30, while the team is scoring five or 10 points more than it used to,” coach Phil Jackson said. “So that’s 12-15 more points per game for his teammates. He can have a bad game and we can still win. That didn’t used to be true.”

“We’ve materialized as a team,” Pippen said. “We’re getting into a groove.”

The Bulls also have had good luck with injuries -- or lack of them. While archrivals Detroit and Boston have been hampered by injuries to star players, the Bulls’ top six players have missed a total of six games.

“Injuries are a reality and that’s a situation that’s definitely helped us and hurt other teams,” Jordan said. “Our stability is a plus, too. We’ve basically had the same guys for three years, and it helps when you can mature together and gelled together as a team.

“Every year we’ve gone farther and farther, so as you see progress there’s always hope you’ll get to the ultimate goal. This year, we’ve progressed a little farther down the road than we thought we would. We hoped to win the division, but we didn’t think we’d be competing for the best record.”

The Bulls’ remarkable health this season also could be a factor in their recent slump.

“There is a lot of fatigue right now coming down to the end of the season,” Jackson said. “It’s like we have cancer. Every time we try to do something right, we do something wrong. We get off our horse and shoot ourselves in the foot. You get numb this time of year and we definitely have to get back in focus.”

“Our defense is not what it should be and our rebounding isn’t what it should be,” Jordan said.

The Bulls also have managed to avoid letting off-the-court problems and squabbles affect their play.

Pippen has been annoyed for months that management appears to be more interested in signing Yugoslavia’s Toni Kukoc than extending his contract, which pays a near-All Star less than the league average.

Two weeks ago, backup forward Stacey King was suspended for missing a practice to protest his lack of playing time. King, a former No. 6 pick in the first round of the draft, has been slow to develop as a contributor.

Jordan, like many superstars, has sometimes tried to wear the general manager’s hat in his desire to improve the team. He harshly criticized GM Jerry Krause for failing to sign Walter Davis at midseason, but today he shrugs off his own and his teammates’ grumblings.

“It’s OK for everyone to voice their opinions; there’s nothing wrong with that,” he said. “The Oakland A’s were like that in the ‘70s. They won three straight world titles and fought all the time.”

The two-time defending-champion Pistons, who have beaten Chicago in the Eastern Conference finals the last two years, share the scoring load.

But Detroit coach Chuck Daly says it’s not really a clash of personalities when the two teams meet.

“Isiah Thomas realized several years ago that he would have to sacrifice his scoring before the team moved on to the championship level,” Daly said. “But he’s a point guard and I think a point guard needs to make that decision. Jordan is different. He plays the same position as Joe Dumars does for us. They’re both great competitors and winners, but Joe doesn’t have the same personality as Michael at the end of a game.”

But Jackson acknowledges that the Bulls have borrowed from the Pistons in one sense -- realizing that tough defense is a must for a championship contender.

“Defense wins, and we’re turning the intensity up a notch on defense,” Jackson said. “If we’re going to be a championship team, we have to do it on defense.”