Eastern Conference Rivals Already Turning Up the Heat

Their teams haven’t even started their opening-round playoff series, but Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls and Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat are already jawing.

Pippen claims the only reason the Heat beat Chicago during the regular season, 113-104 on Feb. 23, is because the Bulls had been out late partying the night before the game.

“If we hadn’t been out all night before the game they would never have beaten us,” Pippen said.

And then he added that the Heat “don’t present a challenge” in the first-round series that begins Friday.

Mourning, extremely unhappy with officials’ calls during a first-round playoff loss to the Bulls last season when he was with Charlotte, came back at Pippen.

“All he’s doing is, you know, adding fuel to the fire because the more we hear that stuff or read about it, the more we’re going to get up for this game,” he said. “So I think the best thing for Scottie and the other Bulls to do is keep their mouths shut and let everything else take care of itself.”

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On the Chicago-Miami undercard is Dennis Rodman vs. Pat Riley. The volatile Bull forward says he expects the Heat coach to try to rile him up.

“Pat Riley’s going to do all he can to send someone purposely out there to beat me up and to get me to blow up. But it’s not going to happen,” Rodman promised after the season finale against Washington.

Riley insists that’s not part of his plan.

“They’re assuming something that’s simply not true,” Riley said. “We’re working very hard to keep him off the boards, very hard. He’s a very physical player. He shouldn’t be talking about that stuff as much as he pushes and shoves and leans.”

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And someone named Michael Jordan canceled a nationwide conference call with reporters Wednesday, citing an unspecified emergency.

Chicago Coach Phil Jackson, speaking at the team’s practice facility, said nothing was wrong with his superstar.

“I think the emergency is the sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day in Chicago,” Jackson said.

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The San Antonio Spurs have headed to a favorite hill country haunt, intent on escaping distractions before their playoff series with the Phoenix Suns.

The Spurs practiced intensely this week in Kerrville, 60 miles northwest of San Antonio, where their few diversions have been golf, fishing and waiting in line to eat at the new Luby’s cafeteria.

“We really got a lot accomplished,” Coach Bob Hill said. “I don’t think it could have gone much better.”

Hill wanted his team in a “playoff camp” and away from family, friends and fans before facing the Suns starting Friday.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks open their playoff series tonight, and not a whole lot of points figure to be scored.

“We’re probably not going to score 110 points like you see in the West Coast,” laughed guard Terrell Brandon, who leads the Cavaliers in scoring. “You’re going to see a lot of fundamental basketball.”

The Cavaliers held their opponents to an NBA-best average of 88.5 points, while the Knicks ranked fourth at 95. New York did not score 100 points against the Cavaliers during the season.

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With Reggie Miller and his perimeter shooting missing, the showdown between Indiana’s Rik Smits and Atlanta’s Christian Laettner may be a deciding factor in the first-round playoff series between the teams.

Smits has a big edge in playoff experience, and the 7-foot-4 center also enjoys a five-inch height advantage. However, Laettner’s quickness and outside shooting could get Smits in foul trouble.

Smits, who averaged a career-best 18.5 points per game, has been in 48 playoff games. Laettner, acquired from Minnesota on Feb. 22, makes his playoff debut in tonight’s opening game of the best-of-five series.

“I can take advantage of him down low,” Smits said. “If it’s going to be a one-on-one matchup down there, it will be interesting to see what they do.”