NBA ROUNDUP : It’s No Joke: 76ers Beat Bulls at Chicago

Doug Moe, something of a stand-up comic, wasn’t kidding when he said Manute Bol was the reason his Philadelphia 76ers beat the Chicago Bulls.

However, the rest of Moe’s news conference was strictly for laughs after the 76ers surprised the Bulls, 98-96, Saturday night at Chicago.

“It’s no big deal, this win,” Moe joked. “If we were playing Dallas or Sacramento, that would be something. (The Bulls) are garbage to us. And we can beat them any time we step on the court. I may as well say it, I haven’t got anything to lose . . .

“We need a win any place, and we’re happy to have it here.”

The 7-foot-7 Bol, a last-minute starter in place of Andrew Lang, who has a sore foot, didn’t score in 33 minutes, but had five blocked shots and seven rebounds.

His presence was a factor in the Bulls’ 45% shooting.

“He probably altered our shooting,” Chicago Coach Phil Jackson said. “This game came down to shooting. The way they shot (51%) and the way we shot were two different stories.”

The 76ers scored 12 consecutive points early in the fourth quarter for an 88-77 lead. The Bulls pulled to 93-91 with 47 seconds left after baskets by Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan.

But Philadelphia’s Clarence Weatherspoon, who had 21 points, broke free for a layup and Hersey Hawkins, who scored 24, added two free throws with 12 seconds left.

Jordan had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Bulls.

Cleveland 121, Utah 104--Brad Daugherty had 27 points and 10 rebounds, making 12 consecutive shots, as the Cavaliers won their fifth consecutive game by beating the Jazz at Richfield, Ohio.

Daugherty missed his first shot, then made his last 12.

Larry Nance added 23 points for Cleveland, which ended Utah’s four-game winning streak.

Karl Malone had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz.

New York 91, Miami 87--Rolando Blackman scored the last four points of the game and the Knicks got past the Heat at New York, enabling Pat Riley to become the 15th NBA coach to win 600 games.

Patrick Ewing had 24 points and a personal-best 26 rebounds as the Knicks improved their NBA-best home record to 12-1.

Blackman, who finished with 23 points, sank two free throws with 50 seconds left to break an 87-87 tie, and added a 20-footer with 17 seconds remaining.

Rony Seikaly had 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Heat.

Charlotte 126, Washington 117--Alonzo Mourning had 24 points and blocked six shots in his return to the Capital Centre, helping the Hornets beat the Bullets at Landover, Md.

Mourning, back on the court where he played while at Georgetown, made eight of 13 shots and grabbed eight rebounds.

Larry Johnson had 26 points and Dell Curry scored 25 points for Charlotte.

Harvey Grant had a personal-best 41 points for the Bullets, who have lost six in a row.

Orlando 125, Atlanta 84--Dennis Scott scored 28 points and Scott Skiles had 19 points and 10 assists at Atlanta as the Magic handed the Hawks their second-worst loss at the Omni.

The Hawks’ worst setback in the Omni was a 44-point loss to the Lakers in 1972.

Duane Ferrell and Stacey Augmon each scored 18 points for the Hawks, who lost for the fourth time in five games.

Indiana 124, New Jersey 110--Reggie Miller scored 31 points and Dale Davis had 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Pacers defeated the Nets at Indianapolis.

Detlef Schrempf added 20 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.

Drazen Petrovic scored 32 points for the Nets.

Detroit 103, Milwaukee 90--Isiah Thomas scored 26 points and Dennis Rodman had 22 rebounds at Milwaukee as the Pistons handed the Bucks their 10th consecutive defeat.

The Pistons won for the ninth time in 10 games after a 2-9 start.

Blue Edwards scored 26 points for Milwaukee.

Houston 112, Dallas 93--Hakeem Olajuwon had 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds during the Rockets’ victory over the Mavericks at Houston.

Houston (13-7) is off to its best start after 20 games since the 1985-86 season, when it was 14-6.

Doug Smith scored 27 points for Dallas and Derek Harper added 22.

Golden State 122, Minnesota 116--Chris Mullin scored 34 points, including a key jumper with 1:52 left in overtime, and the Warriors defeated the Timberwolves at Oakland.

Doug West scored 39 points for Minnesota.