Bulls’ Victory Has Familiar Ring to It

The Chicago Bulls recovered from a season-opening loss and celebrated the unveiling of their fifth championship banner by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers, 94-74, Saturday night at Chicago.

Sounding as though he were giving an early goodbye speech, Scottie Pippen cried as he accepted his NBA championship ring, General Manager Jerry Krause was booed and Michael Jordan promised that there will be another ceremony a year from now.

The Chicago Bulls installed a championship banner for the fifth time in seven years as fireworks exploded and fans roared during a 20-minute celebration before the game.

Pippen, almost traded by Krause during the off-season, choked back tears as he took the microphone and thanked fans for 10 years of “wonderful moments.”

Pippen, who won’t play for about two months after undergoing foot surgery, has said he will leave as a free agent after this season.

“I’ve had a wonderful career here,” he said. “If I never have the opportunity to say this again: Thank you.”

Said Jordan: “I think we all could sit here and say farewell speeches the way things have been orchestrated up to this point. But we still have a job to do.”

Ron Harper had 17 points and eight assists and Jordan scored 16 points in 24 minutes for the Bulls.

Jason Caffey added 14 points and Dennis Rodman had 13 rebounds as Chicago came back from Friday’s shocking loss at Boston to beat Philadelphia for the 16th consecutive time.

Indiana 96, Golden State 83--Larry Bird earned his first victory as an NBA coach as Reggie Miller scored 33 points at Indianapolis.

Rik Smits added 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Latrell Sprewell, who scored 45 points in a loss Friday night at Minnesota, led Golden State with 25. Joe Smith had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Pacers, edged by New Jersey 97-95 in Bird’s coaching debut Friday night, opened a 14-point lead in the first quarter and couldn’t be caught.

New Jersey 113, Milwaukee 109--Chris Gatling’s fade-away jumper with eight seconds left in regulation tied it and his five points in overtime helped seal the Nets’ victory at Milwaukee.

Gatling scored 11 points in the fourth quarter as New Jersey erased a 12-point deficit, and he scored five of New Jersey’s first seven points in overtime and finished with 25.

Minnesota 106, Charlotte 90--Stephon Marbury had 23 points and 13 assists and Kevin Garnett keyed a decisive third-quarter rally at Minneapolis.

The victory gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 record for the first time in franchise history. It is only the second time Minnesota has ever been two games over .500.

Miami 109, Washington 108--Tim Hardaway drove the length of the court and hit a running 12-foot jumper at the buzzer as the Heat recovered from blowing an 18-point lead at Landover, Md.

Hardaway put the Heat up, 107-106, with a three-point play before a twisting layup by Rod Strickland put the Wizards ahead with 5.3 seconds to play.

Hardaway then took the inbounds pass, dribbled up the left side of the court and let loose with a shot that hit nothing but net, leaving the crowd of 18,291 at the Wizards’ home opener in stunned silence.

Atlanta 90, Toronto 85--The Hawks failed to sell out their home opener at Georgia Tech’s 9,300-seat arena, falling 761 tickets shy as they stayed unbeaten at Atlanta.

It was the Hawks’ ninth victory in as many meetings with the Raptors, who entered the league for the 1995-96 season.

Utah 102, Denver 84--Karl Malone scored 24 points at Salt Lake City and passed former Nugget Alex English on the NBA career scoring list.

Malone, who did not play the fourth quarter, became the ninth-leading scorer in NBA history. English, who scored 25,613 points in 15 seasons, was on hand to witness it as he worked the game a color analyst for a Denver TV station. Malone has 25,636 career points.

San Antonio 83, Cleveland 80--David Robinson and Tim Duncan made big plays late in the fourth quarter and Avery Johnson scored five points in the final 1:25 at San Antonio.

Robinson had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Spurs, who overcame a strong performance by Shawn Kemp in his regular season debut with the Cavaliers.

Kemp, who missed the Cavaliers’ season-opening loss at Houston while serving a one-game suspension for leaving the bench during an altercation in an exhibition against Minnesota on Oct. 12, had 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Vancouver 97, Sacramento 96--Bryant Reeves jammed home a rebound with 2.7 seconds remaining to lift the Grizzlies at Vancouver, Canada.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim led the Grizzlies with 19 points despite shooting five for 16 and Otis Thorpe chipped in 15 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Reeves and Anthony Peeler had 15 points each and Blue Edwards came off the bench to chip in 12.

Dallas 89, Seattle 81--Khalid Reeves scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and the Mavericks erased a 13-point deficit in the final five minutes to stun the SuperSonics at Seattle.

The Mavericks, who closed the game with a 23-2 run, improved to 2-0 for the first time in their 18-year history.

NBA Note

Detroit Piston guard Joe Dumars will miss at least five games after pulling his left hamstring in the team’s season opener. Dumars was put on the injured list. No one is expected to replace him on the team’s active roster, a Piston spokesman said.