NBA ROUNDUP : Knicks Give Bulls, Jordan the Lowdown in 112-75 Rout

Michael Jordan’s foot injury was nothing compared to the pain inflicted on the Chicago Bulls’ pride Saturday at New York.

Jordan, averaging 47.7 points in his previous three games, sat out nine minutes in the first half because of a sprained foot, then returned to play most of the second half of the New York Knicks’ 112-75 rout of the defending NBA champions, the worst loss in his pro career.

“I never give up; I didn’t ask to come out and I wasn’t asked to come out,” Jordan said of why he played so long in the fourth quarter, when the Bulls got no closer than 21 points. “The safest thing would have been to stay out of the game, but I wanted to play. It was a big game and I wanted to come back.”

Jordan missed 16 of 20 shots, and scored nine of his season-low 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Knicks pulled away from the Bulls, who shot 31.6%.

Patrick Ewing had 26 points and 15 rebounds for New York, which has given up an average of 79.5 points in its last four games.

“You want the challenge of playing against the best, see where you are as a team,” Knick Coach Pat Riley said. “For one day, we matched up well. Chicago is a great shooting team and we did not want them to get a lot of open shots.”

The Knicks ended an 11-game regular-season losing streak against the Bulls, facing New York for the first time since last season’s physical playoff series that Chicago won, 4-3.

“They caught us back on our heels and we never recovered,” Bull Coach Phil Jackson said. “They beat us up inside.”

Jordan, with 49, 40 and 54 points in his previous three games, could not get going after leaving the game because of the sprained left foot.

“I went up for a rebound and felt a pop on the way up,” Jordan said. “I was afraid it was more serious. I thought it might be my Achilles’ (tendon) at first, but it was the bottom of my foot. After that, I didn’t have much push-off on my jump shots and no push on my drives.”

Golden State 134, Phoenix 131--Chris Mullin’s 36 points led the Warriors to their first home victory this season. The Warriors, who were 0-4 at Oakland Coliseum, became the last NBA team to win at home.

Leading by 14 points in the third quarter, they held off a furious comeback by Phoenix, which was playing without point guard Kevin Johnson, out because of a strained left hamstring. Leading, 102-94, entering the fourth quarter, Golden State took a 109-96 lead on a jumper by Mullin, who scored five consecutive points, with 8:17 left.

Tim Hardaway had 28 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds. Billy Owens added 25 points.

San Antonio 104, Seattle 97--David Robinson scored 15 of his season-high 42 points in the fourth quarter at San Antonio. The Spurs trailed by three points with four minutes left, but rookie Lloyd Daniels, who scored 24 points, ignited a rally with his fourth three-point basket, tying it, 89-89, with 3:24 left.

Derrick McKey led Seattle with 24 points. Ricky Pierce scored 22 and Gary Payton 21 for the SuperSonics.

Boston 117, Philadelphia 109--Kevin McHale and Kevin Gamble each scored 19 points and Sherman Douglas scored 11 of his 18 in the fourth quarter at Philadelphia as the Celtics scored their third victory in a row.

Armon Gilliam, who missed Friday night’s loss to Milwaukee because of a bruised left foot, scored 32 points for the 76ers, who lost their fourth in a row and saw their home record drop to 1-5.

Orlando 95, Cleveland 93--Dennis Scott and Shaquille O’Neal carried the Magic for more than 47 minutes, and Nick Anderson’s reverse layup with 2.8 seconds remaining clinched the victory at Orlando.

Scott scored 28 points and O’Neal had 22 with 14 rebounds to help the Atlantic Division leaders improve to 8-3--equaling the best one-month record in the franchise’s four-year history.

Larry Nance led the Cavaliers with 24 points and nine rebounds. Mark Price had 23 points, but did not score in the last quarter.

Minnesota 82, Detroit 80--Rookie Christian Laettner scored 23 points and made two big plays down the stretch as the Pistons suffered their seventh loss in a row. Doug West had 22 points for the Timberwolves at Minnesota.

Joe Dumars scored 25 points, but missed two potential game-tying shots for the Pistons, who fell to 2-9 under first-year Coach Ron Rothstein. Isiah Thomas had 21 points and Dennis Rodman 24 rebounds for Detroit.

After giving up an average of 108.8 points in their first nine games, seven of them losses, the Timberwolves have yielded 83 and 80 points in winning two in a row.

The Pistons, on the other hand, are struggling.

“We’re a veteran team that had nine phenomenal years and now we’ve got to find a way to win again,” said Billy McKinney, general manager.

Utah 108, Houston 99--Jeff Malone scored 18 of his 40 points in the third quarter as the Jazz continued their strange home-road saga with a victory at Houston. The Jazz, 37-4 at home and 18-23 on the road last season, are 1-4 at home and 6-1 on the road. With its latest road victory, Utah ended a three-game losing streak, all at home.

Atlanta 112, Miami 100--Dominique Wilkins scored 32 points, and the Hawks continued their home-court mastery over the Heat. Wilkins, held to a season-low 13 in Friday’s loss to Cleveland, lifted the Hawks to their fourth victory in five games. Kevin Willis added 25 points and 15 rebounds for Atlanta, 8-0 at the Omni against the Heat.

Milwaukee 97, Washington 95--Frank Brickowski scored 25 points and the Bucks rallied from nine points down in the fourth quarter at Milwaukee for their ninth victory in 12 games. Milwaukee withstood a 20-3 second-half run and several last-second shots by the Bullets, who got a career-high 35 points from Harvey Grant.

New Jersey 94, Sacramento 89--Drazen Petrovic scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Nets continued their outstanding play on the road.

Chris Morris and Kenny Anderson each added 15 points for the Nets, who outscored Sacramento 14-1, during the final 4:31.

The Nets, 2-4 at home, have won four of their last five and six of nine overall on the road.

Mitch Richmond had 26 points for Sacramento, including nine in the fourth quarter. But the Kings made only two baskets in the final 5:30.