Attitude Checks Out as Bulls Defeat Kings

The Bulls’ bad actors were on stage Saturday night at Chicago, and their performances drew rave reviews.

Scottie Pippen made shots from the outside.

Dennis Rodman handled the rebounding.

The Bulls beat Sacramento, 109-94, behind the play of players who have been, well, difficult.

Pippen had missed the first 35 games of the season after a foot operation and returned Jan. 10, only after rescinding a trade demand. The Bulls are 19-5 since his return, and he had 29 points Saturday night to help them to that 19th victory.

“He got his three-pointer going, and that extended the defense,” said Chicago’s Michael Jordan, who had 28 points. “When that happened, he had their defense at his mercy.”

By extending the Kings’ defense, Pippen also made it easier for Rodman to pull down 18 rebounds.

Rodman, going for his seventh consecutive NBA rebounding title, had been relegated to a reserve role the previous six games because he missed two practices and was late for others. After not complaining initially about being replaced by Toni Kukoc, Rodman said this week he wasn’t happy about it.

Coach Phil Jackson said Rodman probably would have stayed on the bench Saturday had Luc Longley not been nursing a knee injury.

“I just felt that Dennis’ attitude is kind of lagging,” Jackson said. “Dennis has been late to practices, not attentive. Those are the things we’d like to see different.

“We told him we had to have him tonight and he performed well. I thought he took to starting. Dennis likes to be introduced under the laser lights.”

The Kings suffered their sixth consecutive loss, even though Mitch Richmond scored 34 points to win his personal competition with Jordan.

“He presents a good work night for me. I’ve always admired his game,” said Jordan, who is averaging 31 points to Richmond’s 23 in their 15 head-to-head confrontations.

“I told him that I hope this was not the last time I’ll play against him,” Richmond said, referring to Jordan’s threat to retire if the Bulls go through with their plan to not re-sign Jackson as coach.

Corliss Williamson added 29 points for Sacramento, which was outscored by an average of 109-93 in going 0-5 on its seven-game trip.

Miami 95, New Jersey 93--Net Coach John Calipari has been claiming for a month that his team can compete with Miami for the Atlantic Division title, and for three quarters at East Rutherford, N.J., he was right.

New Jersey built a 20-point third-quarter lead, but in the fourth, the Nets were no match for Miami, which won its ninth game in a row.

The Heat has also won nine in a row on the road and 13 of 14 overall.

Miami, which entered the fourth quarter trailing, 78-63, won without Tim Hardaway and Keith Askins.

Hardaway was ejected after receiving two technical fouls with 4:51 to play in the third period, and Askins was called for a flagrant foul and ejected with 6:39 to play in the game.

Eric Murdock replaced Hardaway and keyed a Miami pressure defense that disrupted the New Jersey attack and began the fourth quarter with a 12-4 run.

Trailing, 86-76, after Keith Van Horn made two free throws following Askins’ flagrant foul, the Heat went on a 15-1 run to take the lead for good at 91-87.

Charlotte 90, Orlando 80--Anthony Mason had 24 points and 13 rebounds for the Hornets, who scored nine points in a row in the fourth quarter to extend a 73-69 lead and seize control of the game.

All five starters scored in double figures for the Hornets, who won their fourth game in a row. Glen Rice had 17 points, followed by David Wesley with 15, Bobby Phills 13 and Matt Geiger 12.

Dallas 103, Washington 77--Michael Finley scored 27 points and A.C. Green had a season-high 25 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks in their victory at Washington.

Dallas, improving the second-worst record in the league to 11-46, handed the Wizards their worst defeat of the season.

Rod Strickland led the Wizards with 27 points and nine assists, but Washington couldn’t overcome a season-low 34.6% shooting.

Cedric Ceballos, making his first start since being traded to the Mavericks from Phoenix on Feb. 18, had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

San Antonio 100, Philadelphia 88--Avery Johnson scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half for the Spurs, who rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to win at San Antonio.

Johnson and Tim Duncan, who had 27 points and 17 rebounds, helped make up for the limited playing time of David Robinson, who had sat out the previous six games because of a right knee injury and played only 24 minutes against the 76ers, finishing with 17 points and had eight rebounds.

Philadelphia was led by Derrick Coleman with 35 points and Allen Iverson with 19.

The 76ers led, 53-43, at halftime and were ahead, 61-56, with 6:27 to play in the third quarter when Iverson left the game after inadvertently being hit with an elbow by Johnson.

NBA Notes

The Charlotte Hornets activated Vlade Divac on Saturday and cleared a roster spot for the 7-foot-1 center by putting Tony Farmer on the injured list because of tendinitis in the left knee. Divac sat out 18 games because of a chipped shin bone in his left leg.