NBA ROUNDUP : Bulls Get a Big Push by Jordan

Michael Jordan says it’s not always easy being on top, but he is usually up to the challenge.

Jordan scored 10 of his 33 points in an 18-point surge that brought the NBA champion Chicago Bulls from behind to a 113-100 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Thursday night at Minneapolis.

“It can be tiresome,” Jordan said. “We’re the champions and everybody’s shooting for us. If you don’t expect that, you lose.

“It was like the playoffs for them. They were motivated for their fans. Maybe we took them for granted a little bit, but they woke us up fast.”

The Bulls trailed Minnesota, 67-61, with 7:51 left in the third quarter before Jordan brought them back to prevent what could have been a third defeat to a sub-.500 team this season.

Jordan made two three-point plays, hit a 17-foot jump shot and capped the 18-point surge with a dunk for a 79-67 lead with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Jordan had his 31st game of 30-plus points this season.

Will Perdue added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls.

“Jordan and (Scottie) Pippen are tough to cover one-on-one,” Minnesota Coach Jimmy Rodgers said. “You’re constantly . . . trying to compensate for that. “That leaves someone open. The Perdues, they clean up.”

Pooh Richardson scored 22 points and Thurl Bailey added 18 for the Timberwolves, who haven’t beaten Chicago in six tries since entering the league in 1989-90.

Houston 114, Miami 93--Otis Thorpe had 23 of his 25 points in the first half and Vernon Maxwell hit seven of 10 three-pointers and also had 25 points as the Rockets defeated the Heat at Houston.

Hakeem Olajuwon scored 22 points and Kenny Smith added 20 points and nine assists for Houston.

Houston is 6-2 since interim Coach Rudy Tomjanovich took over Feb. 18.

Brian Shaw had 20 points for Miami, which has lost four games in a row.

Washington 119, Dallas 109--The Bullets ended a five-game home losing streak and handed the Mavericks their 16th consecutive road loss.

Pervis Ellison had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Bullets, who hadn’t won at the Capital Centre in more than a month and are the only NBA team with a better record on the road (11-19) than at home (9-21).

Ledell Eackles scored 23 points for the Bullets and Michael Adams added 20.

Derek Harper scored 30 points and Rolando Blackman added 21 for Dallas, winless on the road since beating Houston on Dec. 23.

Phoenix 118, Seattle 105--Kevin Johnson scored eight of his 24 points during a 17-3 run in the third quarter as the Suns defeated the SuperSonics at Phoenix.

Tom Chambers and Dan Majerle each scored 25 points for Phoenix.

Ricky Pierce scored 23 points for Seattle, while Shawn Kemp had 18 points and 19 rebounds.

Golden State 116, Cleveland 108--Sarunas Marciulionis matched his season high with 29 points as the Warriors beat the Cavaliers at Oakland.

Tim Hardaway added 19 points and 11 assists, Chris Mullin scored 18 points and Billy Owens had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors.

Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance each had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland.