No Place Like Chicago When Time for Playoffs

It’s all gravy for Chicago, now that it has clinched the homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Bulls did that Thursday night in East Rutherford, N.J., with a 113-100 victory over the Nets in which Chicago never trailed, Michael Jordan scored only 17 points but played only 26 minutes and Dennis Rodman got through a game without butting anybody.

The last time the Bulls played in New Jersey, March 16, Rodman used his head--which was pink on Thursday, by the way--on referee Ted Bernhardt, drawing a six-game suspension.

Ahead for Chicago are six games, and if the Bulls win three of them they break the NBA victory record set by the Lakers in 1971-72.

“If we can’t go 3-3 in the last six games, something’s wrong,” Bull guard Steve Kerr said.

Miami 115, Milwaukee 105--Alonzo Mourning sparked two early rallies on his way to a 32-point night and the Heat moved into a tie with Charlotte for eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a victory in Miami.

Houston 113, Denver 109--Hakeem Olajuwon scored 37 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter, as he took advantage of the absence of Dikembe Mutombo (strained left hamstring) at Houston.

Portland 114, Dallas 99--Arvydas Sabonis scored 21 points at Portland as the Trail Blazers won for the 14th time in their last 16 games and opened up a two-game lead over Phoenix for sixth place in the Western Conference.

Cleveland 101, New York 97--Danny Ferry scored a career-high pulled within one game of the Knicks for the fourth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have five games remaining, including another head-to-head meeting next Thursday.

NBA Notes

The NBA has suspended Orlando Magic forward Horace Grant for one game and fined him $5,000 for punching Cleveland Cavalier forward Danny Ferry on Wednesday night. . . . A group led by Ross Perot Jr., son of the former presidential candidate, and including former Cowboy quarterback Roger Staubach apparently has emerged as the front-runner to buy the Dallas Mavericks from Don Carter, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. . . . Washington Bullet center Gheorghe Muresan will sit out the rest of the season after tearing a knee ligament and partially tearing cartilage in a game on Wednesday night.