NBA ROUNDUP : Bulls Have the Edge They Needed Last Year

The Chicago Bulls will go into the NBA playoffs with an advantage they have never had--the home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference portion of postseason play.

Scottie Pippen had a key three-pointer and Michael Jordan had 26 points Wednesday night at Miami to lead the Bulls to a 111-101 victory over the Heat.

The Bulls have a 59-21 record--the best in franchise history. Boston has the Eastern Conference’s second-best record at 56-23.

Last spring, when they battled the Detroit Pistons to seven games in the conference final round, the Bulls felt that they lost only because Detroit had the extra game at home. The Pistons went on to win their second consecutive NBA championship.

“We wanted to get the best record in the East,” Jordan said. “We proved the advantage of the home court in the playoffs last year when we won all our home games.”

The Bulls still have one regular-season goal left.

“Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs; we’d like to get 60 wins,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “It’s something that puts you in an elite crowd.

The Bulls trailed, 86-85, when Pippen, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds, made a three-point basket just before the end of the third quarter.

It seemed to demoralize the Heat, which failed to make a field goal in the first eight minutes of the last quarter. Pippen had four baskets in the first six minutes of the quarter and the Bulls were on their way to victory.

“We got our game in gear with Scottie’s bomb and withstood their furious assault,” Jackson said. “Our defense really went to work in the last quarter. We’ll have to play that way throughout the playoffs.”

The Bulls play at Charlotte Friday night and at home Sunday against the Pistons, a team that beat them recently.

Dallas 102, Minnesota 100--Derek Harper made a 20-foot shot with 24 seconds left at Dallas to give the Mavericks the lead, then made two free throws to help end his team’s losing streak at eight games.

The free throws with 10 seconds left gave the Mavericks a four-point lead and they conceded a layup to Tony Campbell to end the scoring.

The Timberwolves had beaten the Mavericks in each of their four previous meetings thisseason.

Cleveland 112, Orlando 102--Gerald Paddio didn’t play the first three quarters but scored 12 points in the fourth quarter at Richfield, Ohio, to help rally the Cavaliers.

Cleveland trailed, 91-90, with eight minutes left, but while Paddio was scoring six points,Orlando went scoreless for almost five minutes and lost all chance.

Charlotte 123, Atlanta 111--Kelly Tripucka scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarterat Atlanta as the Hornets continued their domination of the Hawks.

The Hawks fell 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the battle for fifth place in the East.

Charlotte was 4-1 against Atlanta this season.