Even Without Pippen, Bulls Win

Scottie Pippen or no Scottie Pippen, there’s no beating the Chicago Bulls at the United Center.

Michael Jordan scored 37 points, Toni Kukoc excelled in his return to the lineup in the place of injured Pippen and the Bulls extended their regular-season home winning streak to 38 games by beating the Washington Bullets, 103-86, Wednesday night.

“We feel we can win without Scottie. We know we’d rather not [be without him]. But being that he’s not here, we have to pick up our responsibilities a bit,” Jordan said. “We know we’re going to get a stronger Scottie Pippen back whenever he comes back. That’s a scary thought--to have a stronger Scottie Pippen.”

Pippen, an all-star and the team’s second-leading scorer at 20.7 points per game, is expected to sit out 10-14 days because of tendinitis in his right knee.

In the 10 games since scoring a season-high 40 points against Indiana on Feb. 18, he is averaging 14.3 points. He has scored more than 20 points only once in that span, against Golden State on March 1, and his shooting percentage has dropped dramatically.

Kukoc, who started alongside Pippen at forward last year but who has complained about his role behind Dennis Rodman this season, had 16 points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds Wednesday in his first start of 1995-96.

“Even if you do make a mistake, the coach gives you another chance. That’s the advantage to being a starter,” Kukoc said. “It’s great to be a starter, but you’re always going to have to play good to deserve the minutes.”

Chicago also got 16 points from Luc Longley as it improved to 31-0 at home and an NBA-best 55-7 overall. The Bulls were coming off a 32-point loss at New York, by far their worst defeat of the season, but rebounded to demonstrate why they are on pace to become the first 70-victory team ever.

“We know they are still tough, with or without Scottie. It goes to show why they are on their way to a championship,” Washington’s Juwan Howard said.

Jordan, the NBA’s leading scorer at 31 points per game, had his 38th game of 30-plus points.

Charlotte 91, Utah 85--The Hornets blew a 14-point lead before Dell Curry made several key plays in the closing minutes to help beat Utah at Charlotte. Larry Johnson had 22 points for the Hornets, who won for the first time this season against a team that has won at least 60% of its games.

Detroit 118, Phoenix 115--Grant Hill had his seventh triple-double of the season with 18 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists at Auburn Hills, Mich., to lead the surging Pistons, who have won seven of their last eight games.

New York 106, Minnesota 82--Patrick Ewing scored 11 of his 21 points in a five-minute span of the third quarter as the Knicks won at Minneapolis.

Boston 110, Philadelphia 100--Todd Day scored 23 points, Rick Fox had 21 and David Wesley 20 and the Celtics scored 14 of the game’s final 17 points to win at home.

Seattle 100, Orlando 99--Sam Perkins had a three-point basket and a steal in the final 44 seconds and the SuperSonics scored the final eight points of the game to win at home.

Sacramento 104, Milwaukee 95--Mitch Richmond scored 25 points and Brian Grant had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who won at home and extended their winning streak to three games.