Jordan Takes Over in the Fourth Quarter

It was one of those nights when Michael Jordan simply wasn’t going to allow the Chicago Bulls to lose.

Jordan outscored the entire Portland team, 22-20, in the fourth quarter Tuesday, rallying the Bulls to an 88-84 victory over the Trail Blazers in Portland.

“I got in a great rhythm,” said Jordan, who finished with 36 points. “I don’t know why. But it was a great time for it, and I was able to carry that weight.”

On the fifth stop of a six-game trip, in a game sandwiched between games against Western Conference contenders Seattle and the Lakers, Chicago found itself six points behind early in the fourth quarter.

Then Jordan took over and carried the Bulls to their eighth consecutive victory and 17th in the last 18 games.

“I was the offense in the fourth quarter,” he said. “The team came to me, and I got hot.”

Jordan scored all but six of the Bulls’ points in the final quarter and had an assist on one of the other two field goals. He made two free throws to put Chicago ahead for good, 84-82, with 53.9 seconds to play, then made two more with 5.8 seconds to go to clinch it.

The Bulls are 42-5, the same as they were last season at this point, with one more game to go before the All-Star break.

It wasn’t as if Jordan and the rest of the Bulls weren’t being defended either. Isaiah Rider and the rest of the Trail Blazers had given Chicago fits most of the night.

“Even though Michael got 36, we can’t defend the Bulls much better than we did tonight,” Portland Coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “I don’t know of too many teams that can.”

New York 99, Houston 95--Allan Houston answered Charles Barkley with six free throws in the final 18 seconds and 17 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ victory in New York.

During a timeout late in the game, Barkley, who was not playing because of a sprained ankle, screamed at his teammates, “They don’t have a go-to guy. They’ve got nobody who wants to take the shot.”

But Houston stepped up to bury the Rockets, who lost for the fifth time in a row and suffered a blow when guard Clyde Drexler suffered a hamstring pull that will sideline him for two weeks to two months.

Hakeem Olajuwon had 26 points and Mario Elie 22 for Houston, which dropped to 5-8 in games that Barkley has missed.

Atlanta 107, Golden State 85--Steve Smith scored 36 points and Christian Laettner had 23 for the Hawks, who won in San Jose and administered the Warriors’ fourth consecutive blowout loss.

Golden State has lost by an average of 20.5 points during the streak and was behind by 23 points at halftime Tuesday night.

Cleveland 79, Milwaukee 78--Terrell Brandon scored 23 points for the Cavaliers and made an 18-foot shot with three seconds to play to lift them to a victory in Milwaukee.

Charlotte 115, Minnesota 101--Dell Curry had 30 points and Antony Mason 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Hornets, who won at home for their 10th victory in their last 13 games.

Dallas 104, Sacramento 96--Sam Cassell made all seven of his shots and finished with 20 points and George McCloud added 17 points for the Mavericks in a victory in Dallas.

New Jersey 111, Vancouver 105--Rookie Kerry Kittles had 32 points for the Nets, who overcame a 40-point game by Anthony Peeler in East Rutherford, N.J.

Kendall Gill added 25 points and Shawn Bradley had 16 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for the Nets.

Orlando 111, Indiana 87--Rony Seikaly scored 22 points and the Magic shut down Reggie Miller over the last three quarters to win in Orlando.

Miller led Indiana with 18 points, but missed 11 of 17 shots and only scored seven points after the first quarter.