‘Big Brother’ Helps Pippen, Bulls

Scottie Pippen made a statement for the first three quarters and Michael Jordan added the exclamation point as only he can.

Jordan scored 20 of his 34 points in the final 7 1/2 minutes, Pippen scored 33 and Luc Longley made two free throws with 5.4 seconds left after rebounding a rare Jordan miss as Chicago defeated the Knicks, 105-103, on Thursday at New York.

“When it came time to assert myself, I did it in the fourth quarter,” Jordan said. “That was the story of the game.”

Jordan’s finish was only the final, hard-to-believe chapter on a night when there were subplots in abundance.

The first involved Pippen and Larry Johnson, who engaged in a war of insults after the last Knicks-Bulls game March 9. The two went at each other right from the start Thursday night, and Pippen got the better of the matchup with 18 first-quarter points.

Pippen had 31 entering the fourth quarter, then stepped aside and let Jordan work.

“It was like letting your little brother fight his own fight. When he got tired, big brother stepped in and helped him out,” Jordan said.

Jordan scored nine consecutive Chicago points while being guarded by Allan Houston, helping pull Chicago to within a point at 91-90 with 5:14 left.

The Knicks then put Johnson on him, but Jordan made two jumpers and went five for six from the line as the Bulls tied the score, 103-103, with 44 seconds left.

“I was surprised,” Pippen said of the defensive switch. “After being lit up by me, then he’s going to go on one of the greatest scorers in the game? Well, that’s not saying a lot about [Knick Coach Jeff] Van Gundy’s coaching.”

Pippen deflected an entry pass, grabbed the loose ball and called a timeout while falling out of bounds to give Chicago the ball with 27 seconds left. Predictably, the ball went to Jordan. He faked John Starks off his feet to get an open 18-foot shot, but the ball rimmed out and was grabbed by Longley, who was fouled by Patrick Ewing on the putback attempt.

He made the two free throws to gave Chicago its first lead since early in the third quarter and complete the Bulls’ comeback from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit.

Seattle 90, Dallas 82--Hersey Hawkins scored 17 points and Gary Payton 16 to lead the SuperSonics over the Mavericks at Dallas.

Terry Cummings scored 14 points and Sam Perkins 13 for Seattle. But Shawn Kemp continued to struggle for Seattle, scoring only six points in 31 minutes. Kemp, who was zero for four from the field, scored all his points from the free-throw line.

Michael Finley scored 25 and Sasha Danilovic 22 for the Mavericks, who have lost 12 of their last 13 games.

Houston 102, Vancouver 94--Charles Barkley, making his first home appearance in six weeks after suffering a hip injury, had 21 points and 12 rebounds as the Rockets defeated the Grizzlies at Houston.

Hakeem Olajuwon had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Houston, which won for the fourth consecutive time to keep pace with Seattle for the second-best record in the Western Conference.

Barkley, who returned from a hip injury during Houston’s just-completed five-game trip, played at home for the first time since March 1. Because of injuries, Thursday’s game also marked the first time the Rockets’ three All-Stars--Barkley, Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler--were in the lineup at home since Jan. 25.

Portland 98, San Antonio 81--Rasheed Wallace scored 19 points and the Trail Blazers used two spurts in the second quarter to win at San Antonio.

Arvydas Sabonis had 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers, who had runs of 12-0 and 10-0 in the second period when they outscored the Spurs, 26-10.

Kenny Anderson had 15 points and 12 assists for the Trail Blazers, who completed a four-game season sweep of San Antonio.

No Spur starter scored in double figures, and the Trail Blazer starters outscored San Antonio’s first five, 75-27.

Orlando 105, Toronto 69--Dennis Scott scored 20 points at Toronto as the Magic held the Raptors to their lowest point total in club history.

Taking advantage of Toronto’s poorest shooting performance ever, 29.4%, Orlando held the Raptors to only 13 points in the second quarter and only 15 in the fourth. Toronto’s 69 points broke the previous record low of 70 points set against Minnesota on Nov. 30.

Gerald Wilkins finished with 19 points, while Horace Grant had 18. Penny Hardaway, who sat out the fourth quarter, had six points, nine rebounds and 13 assists.

Miami 93, Detroit 83--The Heat made four consecutive three-point shots in the final period and clinched the Atlantic Division title be defeating the Pistons at Miami.

The Heat’s Tim Hardaway scored 30 points, including a three-point shot to cap a 16-4 run at the start of the fourth quarter. Alonzo Mourning overcame foul trouble to score 26 points.

Detroit’s Grant Hill narrowly missed a triple-double with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Terry Mills scored 24 points.

New Jersey 93, Milwaukee 88--Jimmy Jackson had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double as the Nets defeated the Bucks at East Rutherford, N.J.

Kendall Gill scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, including a clinching three-point basket with 12.5 seconds to go, as the Nets ended a season-high five-game losing streak.

New Jersey made only two field goals in the final 4:53 and almost squandered a nine-point lead, but the Bucks could not take advantage and lost for the 20th time in the past 24 games.

Phoenix 101, Sacramento 99--Kevin Johnson’s knifing layup through the lane with 4.7 seconds left in regulation lifted the Suns to their 11th consecutive victory, over the Kings at Sacramento.

With Sacramento trailing, 99-90, with 3:36 remaining, Mitch Richmond scored five points as the Kings went on a 9-0 run to tie the game. His three-point basket pulled the Kings even, 99-99, with 1:48 remaining.

With the shot clock winding down, Johnson drove down the lane and made an off-balance layup.

Golden State 109, Denver 107--Joe Smith scored 25 points, including two free throws with nine seconds left in overtime, as the Warriors defeated the Nuggets at San Jose.

Latrell Sprewell had 22 points and Chris Mullin 21 for the Warriors, who have won 14 of their last 16 games at home against Denver.

In a duel between the top two picks in the 1995 NBA draft, Antonio McDyess had a career-high 35 points for the Nuggets. McDyess, chosen second in that draft behind Smith, had 30 points in the first three periods.