NBA ROUNDUP : Bulls Get a Victory to Start New Era

Without Michael Jordan, opening night took a little longer for the Chicago Bulls.

The three-time NBA champions showed they could still be a solid team without their superstar, nearly winning in regulation.

But Johnny Newman’s 28-footer at the end of regulation forced an extra period before Horace Grant’s put-back with two-tenths of a second left in overtime gave the Bulls a 124-123 victory at Charlotte in their season opener Friday night.

Although Charlotte was picked in preseason as the possible successor to Chicago as the best team in the Central Division, the Bulls showed their reign wouldn’t end without a fight. B.J. Armstrong made his first seven shots and nine of his first 10 to lead Chicago with 28 points before fouling out with 3:56 left in regulation.

Scottie Pippen struggled at the free-throw line--he made 11 of 21 --but had 23 points and 16 rebounds.

With the Bulls trailing, 123-122, Pippen took an inbounds pass and dribbled toward the baseline, passing to Pete Myers. He missed his short jumper in the lane, but Grant got the rebound, rattling the ball around the rim before it finally fell in.

Dell Curry attempted a lob pass for a last-second shot, but the ball hit the top of the backboard and time ran out.

Detroit 104, Minnesota 99--Isiah Thomas, wearing a flak jacket over a broken right rib, scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half to lead the Pistons at Auburn Hills.

The Pistons, adjusting to life without Dennis Rodman, were out-rebounded, 46-43. But Olden Polynice had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Terry Mills had 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Minnesota’s Christian Laettner was ejected after a remark to a referee with 3:38 left in the game. Laettner played only 26 minutes, scoring 13 points.

San Antonio 91, Golden State 85--David Robinson scored 32 points in the victory before a crowd of 36,523 at the Alamodome, an NBA record for an opening-night game.

Willie Anderson, back to full strength after battling injuries much of last year, had 21 points for the Spurs, and new addition Dennis Rodman did what he does best, grabbing 21 rebounds.

Anderson, who had gotten off to a slow start in the first half, finally found his shot and scored 14 points in the third quarter, as San Antonio took a 63-51 lead.

Latrell Sprewell led the Warriors with 22 points and Billy Owens added 14.

Houston 110, New Jersey 88--Hakeem Olajuwon had 24 points and 19 rebounds and Robert Horry had a strong opening game at Houston.

The Rockets started defense of their Midwest Division title by improving their record in season openers to 13-14.

The Rockets led 51-42 at the half and jumped on the Nets with a 10-2 spurt to start the third quarter for a 61-44 advantage, led by Horry and Otis Thorpe, who each had two baskets during the charge.

Atlanta 116, Indiana 110--Dominique Wilkins scored 33 points to help make Lenny Wilkens’ coaching debut successful at Atlanta.

Larry Brown suffered the loss, his first as the Pacers’ coach.

Kevin Willis added 25 points and Stacey Augmon 22 for Atlanta.

The Hawks led 90-79 after three quarters before the Pacers rallied, making the score 94-90 with 8:12 remaining on a pair of free throws by Malik Sealy, who led the Pacers with 27 points and 10 rebounds.

Milwaukee 94, Cleveland 91--Ken Norman, a 21% career shooter from three-point range, made one with 7.6 seconds remaining to give the Bucks the victory at Richfield.

Norman scored 24 points in his first game with the Bucks, who gave him a six-year, $15.6 million contract to lure him away from the Clippers this year.

The loss, Cleveland’s fifth straight in a season opener, spoiled Mike Fratello’s return to NBA coaching.

Orlando 116, Miami 96--Shaquille O’Neal scored 42 points in only 31 minutes as the Magic opened the season by winning at Miami for the first time in its five-year history.

O’Neal made 17 of 24 shots but missed more than one-quarter of the game because of foul trouble, including the final 8:09 of the third quarter with four fouls. Balanced scoring helped the Magic expand their lead during that span from 61-57 to 85-74.

O’Neal reached 40 points for the second time in his two-year pro career on a thunderous dunk with four minutes left. He scored 46 points against Detroit as a rookie last season.

Philadelphia 94, Washington 82--Shawn Bradley, the 7-foot-6 rookie, had six points, five rebounds and eight blocked shots in his debut at Philadelphia, but it was 38-year-old Moses Malone who provided inspiration in the victory.

While Bradley made only two of 12 shots, Malone, fondly remembered as a star on the 76ers’ 1983 NBA champions, received a standing ovation when introduced before the game.

Malone scored 16 points, making seven of 10 shots.

New York 111, Boston 108--New York won a battle of teams headed in opposite directions as Patrick Ewing scored 30 points at Boston.

The loss ended Boston’s streak of 14 straight victories in home openers.

Robert Parish, in his first regular-season game since succeeding the late Reggie Lewis as team captain, had 20 points and Kevin Gamble added 16 for Boston. For New York, John Starks scored 20 and Anthony Mason 18.

Utah 102, Dallas 86--Karl Malone scored 29 points and Tom Chambers 26 at Utah as the Jazz overcame an 0-for-13 shooting start.

Despite the bad start, the Jazz took the lead for good, 29-28, with 6:21 left in the second quarter on a layup by Tyrone Corbin.

The Mavericks, who owned the league’s worst record last year at 11-71, were led by rookie Jamal Mashburn with 22 points.

Sacramento 109, Denver 100--The Kings overcame a 17-point second-half deficit in the fourth quarter to get the victory at Sacramento.

The Kings trailed 88-75 after three quarters, but went on a furious 15-3 fourth-quarter run.

Wayman Tisdale led the Kings with 21 points.