NBA ROUNDUP : Jordan Costs Bulls in Triple Overtime

One day after after Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to a victory over the Lakers at the Forum, he committed a costly foul in a 126-123, triple-overtime loss to the Utah Jazz at Salt Lake City Monday night.

With the score 123-123, Utah’s Jeff Malone drove the lane, and Jordan was called for a foul with 0.5 seconds left.

Jordan also was called for a technical and ejected from the game for bumping referee Tommie Wood while arguing the call.

Malone, who had made only four of 21 shots from the field, made all three free throws as the Bulls lost for only the eighth time this season.

The Jazz won despite shooting only 41% for the game and 26% in the fourth quarter.

Neither Utah’s Karl Malone nor Jordan had a good shooting night, although each scored 34 points.

Karl Malone made 11 of 25 shots, and Jordan hit 13 of 34, including a 15-foot jumper with 5.6 seconds left in the third overtime to tie the score, 123-123.

Utah appeared to be in command with three minutes left in regulation after Karl Malone hit a 20-foot jumper to give the Jazz an 87-81 lead. But Chicago reserve center Will Perdue got two baskets and three rebounds during an 8-0 Bulls run.

Chicago led, 89-87, with 1:31 left in regulation on a basket by Jordan.

Utah’s John Stockton, who finished with 19 points and 12 assists, made a layup with 1:21 left. After that, Jordan and Scottie Pippen missed shots for the Bulls, and Stockton had a miss and then threw the ball out of bounds on a pass to Jeff Malone with 3.7 seconds left.

Jordan missed a 20-footer with one second left and the game headed to overtime.

Golden State 122, Orlando 114--The Road Warriors played like road runners at Orlando, Fla., fast-breaking their way to layup after layup.

Chris Mullin scored 31 points and Mario Elie added a personal-best 27, including 11 during a decisive third-quarter stretch as the Warriors improved their road record to 15-6, second best in the NBA.

“Most of my shots were easy layups,” said Elie, who made nine of 12. “The guys did a good job of finding me.”

Mullin made 15 of 24 shots.

Elie and Mullin keyed a 28-12 third-quarter run that enabled Golden State to pull away from a 69-69 tie to a 97-71 lead. They combined for 20 points during the spurt and the Warriors, who shot 76% in the period, scored 13 in a row during one stretch.

Anthony Bowie, who had a personal-best 25 points, scored 11 in the fourth quarter to help the Magic make up most of its big deficit. His 12-foot jumper cut the Warriors’ advantage to 115-111 with slightly more than two minutes left, but Orlando couldn’t get any closer.

Nick Anderson led Orlando with 27 points.

Seattle 112, Atlanta 110--Rickey Pierce made a 20-foot jump shot from the left wing with 3.5 seconds to play at Atlanta to give the SuperSonics a victory over the Hawks. Benoit Benjamin set a pick to free Pierce.

Pierce’s basket capped an 18-6 run in the final five minutes that enabled the SuperSonics to end a 10-game losing streak in Atlanta.

Pierce led Seattle with 26 points and Eddie Johnson added 22.

Houston 122, Indiana 111--Hakeem Olajuwon had 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocked shots to lead the Rockets over the Pacers at Indiana. Vernon Maxwell had 23 points for the Rockets, who won their fifth consecutive home game.

The loss extended Indiana’s losing streak at the Summit to 15 games, dating to March 28, 1979.

Detlef Schrempf scored 25 to lead the Pacers, who had won their previous three games. The Pacers are 4-19 on the road.

Minnesota 114, Denver 99--Tony Campbell scored 30 points and the Timberwolves used a strong first half to end a team-record 11-game losing streak with a victory at Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves scored 71 points before halftime and led by as many as 21, but managed only 43 in the second half as Denver used a full-court press to get back into the game.

The Nuggets shot only 38% from the field, but rookie center Dikembe Mutombo scored a personal-best 39 points and had 21 rebounds. His previous best was 29 points.

Doug West had 20 for the Timberwolves, whose last victory came Jan. 11 against Utah. At 8-37, Minnesota has the worst record in the NBA.

The Timberwolves shot 56.7%, a franchise record. West was eight of 11.

Sacramento 99, Dallas 95--Mitch Richmond scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter at Sacramento and the Kings made two key steals in the final 1:56 to hand the Mavericks their sixth consecutive loss.

The Mavericks made 12 of 17 field goals in the fourth quarter, including 11 straight baskets during a 9:05 span, but missed their last four shots.