The Story Ends the Same as Usual in Chicago

The night had more plot twists than a John Le Carre novel.

Here were the Bulls, with 38 victories in a row in Chicago’s United Center.

Here were the Nuggets, who had broken an 18-game Chicago winning streak in February in Denver.

Here was Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, back on the court after a one-game suspension for not participating in pregame ceremonies centered around the American flag and the national anthem.

Suzanne Shields sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” but they might as well have used a record Friday night, because for the 87 seconds of the anthem, the 21,771 on hand only had eyes for Abdul-Rauf, whose own eyes were closed behind his hands in prayer.

Once the inspection was passed by Abdul-Rauf, they started playing basketball and Michael Jordan played best of all--as usual.

He scored 33 points in leading the Bulls to a 108-87 victory that he called retribution.

“We didn’t want them to have a celebration here in Chicago,” said Jordan after the Bulls improved to 32-0 at home and 56-7 overall. “When they beat us in Denver, 10,000 fans stayed after the game and LaPhonso Ellis led them in some cheers. We remember that. We wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again.”

Instead, there were boos for Abdul-Rauf, who scored 19 points--13 fewer than he scored in the earlier meeting--but he said he wasn’t the least bit bothered by the crowd. He went into the game with 6:57 to play in the first quarter and made the first shot he took, silencing the crowd.

“I had a good time. It was nice to be back playing,” he said. “I didn’t even hear [the crowd reaction]. I don’t go out listening for those things.”

The Bulls are 2-0 without injured all-star Scottie Pippen thanks in great part to Toni Kukoc, who has scored 40 points in the games. Kukoc had season highs with 24 points and 10 assists Friday and Dennis Rodman added 15 rebounds.

Seattle 120, Dallas 97--Sam Perkins scored a season-high 27 points and rookie Eric Snow had 13 assists in his first start for the SuperSonics in a victory at home.

Detroit 80, Cleveland 69--Allan Houston scored 22 points for the Pistons, who won despite going almost 10 1/2 minutes without a field goal at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Orlando 92, Vancouver 87--Blue Edwards made two baskets to forge an 83-83 tie and send the game into overtime, but Penny Hardaway scored five points the rest of the way at Vancouver.

Minnesota 113, Sacramento 87--Tom Gugliotta made eight of nine shots and scored 21 points in the Timberwolves’ victory at home.

Phoenix 128, Philadelphia 102--Charles Barkley scored 29 points, including 16 in the third quarter, in leading the Suns at Philadelphia.

Charlotte 113, Toronto 101--Larry Johnson and Glen Rice scored 27 points each for the Hornets, who blew an 11-point lead before rallying to win at home.

Utah 95, Indiana 86--Karl Malone had 27 points and nine assists for the Jazz at Indianapolis.