Bullets Shoot Down Bulls, Eye Playoffs

His team had just knocked off the Chicago Bulls in a possible playoff preview, and someone asked Rod Strickland if the Washington Bullets had given the defending champions something to think about.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Strickland said. “I don’t know about sending messages, because I don’t think you can send a message to the champs.”

Maybe not, but Washington’s 110-102 victory Thursday in Landover, Md., gave the Bullets hope that their eight-year run of missing the playoffs might be over. Conversely, Chicago’s loss eliminated any chance the Bulls (63-10) had to improve on last year’s unprecedented 72-10 record.

Strickland, playing with a sprained left ankle, had 26 points and 14 assists and led a fourth-quarter charge that carried Washington to its season-high sixth win in a row.

The Bullets moved into a tie with idle Cleveland in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but Washington has the tiebreaker edge.

If the Bulls win the East and Washington finishes eighth, the teams would meet in the first round of the playoffs. But the Bullets (38-35) can avoid Chicago of they can pass Orlando (40-33) and squeeze in as the seventh-seeded team.

“That eight-spot is ours, but we’re striving hard for that seven-spot. You never know what can happen in this league,” Bullets forward Juwan Howard said.

Indeed, it would have been hard to imagine Washington beating Chicago, given that the Bulls were 8-0 against the Bullets since January 1995. But Washington outrebounded Chicago, 46-29, and rallied from a five-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a confidence boost. We’ve got to take it in stride and build on it,” Strickland said. “We have to understand that this is only one win.”

Washington overcame a 34-point effort by Michael Jordan, who gave the Bullets their due.

“The difference in the ballgame was their offensive rebounding, and we couldn’t really stop Rod Strickland penetrating the lane,” Jordan said. “We knew we were in a battle.”

Seattle 103, Milwaukee 80--Gary Payton scored 22 points for the SuperSonics, who moved back into first place in the Pacific Division with a win in Seattle, their seventh in a row at home against Milwaukee.

The SuperSonics moved half a game ahead of the idle Lakers.

Miami 92, Indiana 78--Jamal Mashburn scored 23 points, including 10 in a row in the fourth quarter for the Heat, which won at Indianapolis to open a three-game lead in the Atlantic Division race.

Mashburn’s 10-point streak came while the Heat was building a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. His jump shot with 7:28 to play gave Miami a 77-67 lead, and he hit two three-point baskets to cap the streak and give the Heat an 85-67 lead.

The victory was the 10th in 11 games for Miami, which is trying to stay ahead of second-place New York with nine games to play.

Charlotte 93, New Jersey 87--Matt Geiger had 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter when the Hornets outscored New Jersey by 26 points in a win at East Rutherford N.J.

Glen Rice, who was three for 11 in the opening half, scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half for undermanned Charlotte, which rallied from a 12-point deficit to win for the 12th time in 16 games.

Golden State 106, Dallas 90--Latrell Sprewell had 25 points and Joe Smith added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors, who won at San Jose and sent Dallas to its ninth consecutive loss.