Starks Gives Bulls One to Remember : NBA playoffs: He slows down Jordan and his three-pointers help Knicks pull away, 98-90.

That wasn’t Aretha, that was John Starks.

If the New York Knicks were suffering from a lack of respect, they won at least that much Sunday when John Starks bested Michael Jordan as the Chicago Bulls fell, 98-90, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Jordan scored 27 points, but only 10 after halftime, and he missed 10 of his last 12 shots.

Starks scored 25 and made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls entered the series typically brash, Jordan citing the Knicks’ “flaws” and Coach Phil Jackson ridiculing Knick claims of disrespect (“Is Aretha Franklin around? They’ve been singing that song for nine months. Give us a break! Get a new song!”)

But it was a different bunch of Bulls late Sunday afternoon.

Call them respectful.

“Starks played extremely well defensively,” Jordan said. “He really ‘bodied’ me up physically. He got me in tough positions where I couldn’t get the shot I wanted. A couple of them, I forced just because I was totally out of rhythm.

“When you miss jump shots, perimeter shots, you try to get easier shots and I got a couple easy layups to try and get my confidence back and I missed them, too. You have to credit him (Starks) because he was the one guarding me.

“He’s a surprise to me as he is to you guys. I don’t really remember when he came in the CBA. I don’t really remember when he came into the league, but I know he’s here now.”

Jordan is not famous for conceding anything to anyone, during or after games. During the last series, he mocked suggestions that Gerald Wilkins could slow him and, asked who his toughest defender was, replied:

“My shadow.”

Last season, he also called Starks, with whom he had several trash-talking duels, “one of the cockiest players in the league.”

But, between incidents--throwing water in Mark Jackson’s face, breaking Kenny Anderson’s wrist, butting Reggie Miller--Starks has become the No. 2 Knick in importance only to Patrick Ewing.

The onetime knockabout who attended three schools in Oklahoma and came up through the Continental Basketball Assn. and the World Basketball League became a starter, averaged better than 20 points over the last half of the season and was voted second-team all-defense by the league’s coaches.

“His cockiness has turned into confidence,” Jordan said, “and you can sense it in the way he plays.

“I’m sure Pat Riley had something to do with that, but he’s getting out of that cocky mode. He’s a very confident player. . . . I think we both respect each other as players. We’re trying to get an advantage over each other on the court. I’m pretty sure he had an advantage over me today, and I must give him credit.”

The game was your basic ballyhooed series opener: nervous and close to the vest.

The Bulls went on a 9-0 run to close the first half with a 48-44 lead. Moments into the second half, Jordan made a 17-footer and it was 50-44.

Things were unfolding as predicted. Jordan had 19 points, having made eight of 15 shots.

Starks had eight shots and eight points.

Before the series, Jordan had noted the Knick “flaw”--a dependence on two scorers, Ewing and Starks. Now, Jordan and Scottie Pippen were both off, as was Ewing, but not Starks.

“He was concerned about his offense (at halftime),” teammate Charles Smith said. “He was having trouble getting off and getting open, and I think it was a situation, he wanted to open the game up. He wanted to get some shots up.

“After he hit the first one, I said, ‘OK, John’s starting to find his rhythm.’

“He hit the second, I said, ‘OK, John’s going to start jacking it.’

“He hit the third, I said, ‘He’s unconscious.’ ”

Starks held Jordan scoreless for the last 11:43 of the third quarter and the first 2:46 of the fourth, and the Knicks went from a 50-44 deficit to a 77-69 lead. Then Starks started dropping three-pointers as if they were layups and the Bulls never threatened.

“I don’t think we were floating too high,” Jordan said. “Yes, we were very successful in terms of being 7-0 (in the playoffs), but this puts us in a different light we haven’t been in this year. If you want to say this kind of knocks us back to reality, yes.”

NBA East Notes

The NBA assigned its top referee, Jake O’Donnell, and two more lead officials, Bennett Salvatore and Hue Hollins, sending an unmistakable message that no rough stuff would be tolerated. The closest thing to a problem came in the third quarter when Scottie Pippen knocked down Doc Rivers while blocking his breakaway layup from behind. . . . The Knicks outrebounded the Bulls by a shocking 48-28. . . . Pippen, who was supposed to succumb to the Knicks’ physical assault, missed his first five shots, made eight of his last 14 and scored 24 points.

* WESTERN: Suns’ outside shooting is expected to be the key as series opens against SuperSonics. C12