NBA ROUNDUP : Celtics No Match for Bulls This Time

Whether he plays or not, Michael Jordan usually makes the difference.

Jordan scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter Saturday night, lifting the Chicago Bulls to a 96-89 victory over the Boston Celtics at Chicago.

Jordan was out because of an ankle injury when the Celtics beat the Bulls, 101-96, Wednesday night at Boston.

Jordan, who missed six days of practice, was coming off a 38-point performance Friday night against Portland. He struggled for much of the game, claiming that the layoff “caught up to me. It affected my shooting. I had no rhythm.”

The Bulls, winning for the fifth time in six games at Chicago Stadium, didn’t take the lead for good until Jordan’s basket with 4:26 to play gave them an 83-81 lead. The Celtics rallied from a six-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to gain the tie.

Xavier McDaniel, scored 22 points for Boston, which lost for only the second time in seven games after a 2-8 start.

Portland 96, Cleveland 94--Kevin Duckworth’s only basket of the second half, with one minute left, lifted the Trail Blazers to a victory over the Cavaliers at Richfield, Ohio.

Cleveland, which has lost seven consecutive games to the Trail Blazers, turned the ball over twice in the final minute on an offensive foul by Larry Nance and an errant pass by Terrell Brandon with six seconds to play.

Cliff Robinson scored 24 points for Portland and Nance had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Cleveland.

Atlanta 113, San Antonio 105--Dominique Wilkins scored 44 points and Kevin Willis had 34 as the Hawks held David Robinson to 13 while beating the Spurs at Atlanta.

Antoine Carr had 22 points and Sean Elliott scored 21 for the Spurs. Robinson, guarded mainly by Jon Koncak, was held to three points in the first half and made only five of 18 shots.

Indiana 111, Washington 109--The Pacers scored the last 10 points, including Rik Smits’ rebound basket with three seconds to play, and beat the Bullets at Landover, Md.

Washington went on a 13-3 run to take a 109-101 lead with 2 1/2 minutes to play before Indiana rallied. George McCloud’s three-pointer with 41 seconds to play made it 109-108, and after Smits’ basket, Dale Davis added a free throw with six-tenths of a second left.

Reggie Miller scored 25 points for the Pacers and Michael Adams had 25 for the Bullets.

Golden State 119, Orlando 104--Chris Mullin scored eight of his 31 points in the final quarter and the Warriors won at Oakland.

It was the Warriors’ second home victory in seven games. They failed to protect fourth-quarter leads in all five losses.

Shaquille O’Neal had 17 points, 17 rebounds and blocked six shots, but Orlando lost its third in a row.

New York 111, Milwaukee 98--Anthony Mason scored a personal-best 25 points as the Knicks overpowered the smaller Bucks at New York.

Charles Smith scored 23 points and Patrick Ewing added 20 as New York’s front line outscored Milwaukee’s, 81-50.

Rookie Todd Day scored 13 of his season-high 19 points in the fourth quarter for Milwaukee, which lost for the second game in a row after a 10-3 start.

Houston 117, Dallas 96--Akeem Olajuwon scored 14 of his 26 points in the second quarter at Dallas and the Rockets handed the Mavericks their ninth consecutive defeat.

Otis Thorpe had 24 points and Kenny Smith scored 18 as the Rockets snapped a three-game losing steak.

Derek Harper scored 23 points for the Mavericks, who, at 1-12, have the worst record in the NBA.

Utah 119, Denver 89--Karl Malone had 30 points and 13 rebounds as the Jazz trounced the Nuggets at Salt Lake City for their fourth consecutive victory.

Tyrone Corbin added 22 points and David Benoit had 18 points for Utah, which was without starters Jeff Malone (back spasms) and Mark Eaton (sore knee).

LaPhonso Ellis scored 14 points for the Nuggets.

Detroit 112, Philadelphia 88--Bill Laimbeer scored 18 points and grabbed the 10,000th rebound of his NBA career at Detroit as the Pistons beat the 76ers for the second consecutive night.

Armon Gilliam had 17 points for Philadelphia, which lost its seventh game in a row.

Isiah Thomas had 25 points and Joe Dumars had 23 for Detroit, which got 20 rebounds from Dennis Rodman.

New Jersey 111, Miami 104--Drazen Petrovic scored 29 points and hit two three-pointers in a 10-2 surge in the fourth quarter that carried the Nets past the Heat at Miami for their sixth consecutive victory.

The loss is the ninth in the last 10 games for the Heat, who got 35 points from Glen Rice.

Seattle 124, Minnesota 87--Benoit Benjamin scored 18 points at Seattle and the SuperSonics beat the Timberwolves for the fifth consecutive time to remain tied with Portland for the Pacific Division lead.

Doug West scored 18 points for the Timberwolves.