NBA ROUNDUP : Pippen Shows Kerr It’s Better to Receive

Steve Kerr almost gave away the game. Scottie Pippen wouldn’t let him.

Kerr practically handed a game-tying three-pointer to Hubert Davis with four-tenths of a second left in regulation. But Chicago defeated the New York Knicks anyway, 107-104, Sunday night in Chicago, as Pippen ended his 36-point performance by scoring all seven of the Bulls’ overtime points.

“I had a clear shot at it and it ended up being one of the all-time bonehead plays,” Kerr said.

With Chicago ahead, 100-97, New York’s Anthony Mason threw a full-court inbounds pass right to Kerr. But instead of catching the ball, Kerr batted it with both hands like a volleyball, apparently intent on killing the clock.

However, the ball went to Davis, who made an off-balance 25-foot heave from the right wing to tie the score at 100. Kerr, appalled at what he had just done, placed both hands on top of his head in disbelief.

“Fortunately, we pulled through in overtime or I’d be buried in the sand right now,” Kerr said. “I felt horrible. It was embarrassing. Not only does it happen, but it happens on national TV, on Christmas night with the whole world watching. But we won and I’m off the hook.”

He’s off the hook and the Knicks are on the skids. Their five-game losing streak is their longest since 1990 and the longest in the career of Coach Pat Riley.

It was the teams’ first meeting since the Knicks ended the Bulls’ run of three NBA championships by winning last May’s Eastern Conference semifinal series in seven games.

Pippen, who’ll be forever remembered for refusing to play the final 1.8 seconds of that series’ third game when he wasn’t called upon to take the Bulls’ last shot, refused to leave Sunday’s game.

He played all 53 minutes.

“I couldn’t get him out,” Chicago Coach Phil Jackson said. “I tried to take him out a couple of times, asked him if he’d like to come out. He said he was fine. He wanted to be out there.”

Pippen, who added a season-high 16 rebounds to his season-high point total, made a driving layup with 2:24 to go put Chicago ahead for good, 104-102. He added three free throws for the final margin and blocked three-point attempts by both Davis and Charles Smith in the final seconds.

“I told my teammates over the last couple of weeks that the Christmas game is big, with a lot of hype,” said Pippen, whose Bulls have won five consecutive on the holiday. “I really wanted to win this.”

Toni Kukoc added 25 points for the Bulls, who have consecutive victories at the United Center for the first time after 28 seasons at Chicago Stadium. The game drew the biggest crowd in club history, 22,854.

“I’ve said from the first day that it’s going to take time to get comfortable here and have some special moments,” B.J. Armstrong said. “Tonight was one of those moments.”

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Denver 105, Seattle 96--Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf scored 23 points and Rodney Rogers added 22 at Denver, as the Nuggets ended the SuperSonics’ four-game winning streak.

Detlef Schrempf and Kendall Gill had 21 points each for Seattle. Denver held Shawn Kemp to 10 points, his second-lowest output of the year. Kemp was limited to 20 minutes because of foul trouble and fouled out with 8:04 left.

It was the first meeting of the teams since last spring, when the Nuggets, seeded eighth, eliminated the top-seeded Sonics in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Seattle is winless in 10 games played on Christmas Day. Denver had lost three of its last four games.