Kerr, Bulls Bench Provide Relief For Jordan And Pippen Chicago Bench Has Averaged 41 Points Over Last Three Contests

Before the reporter could get the question out, Steve Kerr wanted to know what the question-and-answer session was going to be about. Answering the same question day after day can get pretty tiring.

Once Kerr was briefed, he gladly chatted away.

“I’m just glad I’m not being asked about us winning 70 games,” Kerr said with a laugh. “I’d much rather talk about how the bench has been playing.”

After suffering through bouts of inconsistency for much of the season, the bench happens to be playing well right now, particularly Kerr, who has snapped out of his annual November slump.

Kerr, the team’s designated 3-point specialist, is shooting 70 percent (12 of 17) from 3-point land in the Bulls’ last six games. His best performance, by far, came Friday against Toronto when Kerr scored a season-high 16 points, including 4 of 5 3-pointers.

“The last three or four games, I have started feeling more comfortable with my shooting,” Kerr said. “Over the past few years I have always been a slow starter and it usually takes a month or so for me to get started.”

This season was no exception. But it took longer for Kerr to get going, which was frustrating. And just when he thought he was snapping out of the slump during the Bulls’ West Coast road swing-like when he scored 10 points with a pair of key 3-pointers in a victory over the Jazz in Utah, Kerr would struggle again-like when he hit just one of four 3-point attempts against the Los Angeles Clippers.

And it wasn’t just Kerr who was slumping. The rest of his benchmates were trying to find some consistency. In the meantime, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen carried the team. The Bulls, who have won 13 in a row, kept winning. That took some pressure off the bench, but coach Phil Jackson began to worry about the amount of minutes Jordan and Pippen were logging.

“We know we can’t just rely on Scottie and Michael,” Kerr said. “We did that early in the year and they won a lot of games for us. Now, it’s more of a total team effort and that’s going to take pressure off those guys.”

The Bulls’ bench has scored 125 points in the team’s last three games, with Kerr averaging 12.3 points and Toni Kukoc 12. Center Bill Wennington had a season-high 16 points against Toronto Friday.

With the productivity, Jackson has been able to rest his starters, keeping them fresh for back-to-back games.

“Our bench has really been supporting us quite well lately,” Jordan said.

When Jordan and Kerr are on the floor together, Jordan is looking to get the ball to Kerr for open three-pointers, especially when the defenses try to double-team Jordan.

“Michael is starting to find me on the floor and he’s starting to find my spots where I like the ball,” Kerr said. “We’re starting to feel better playing together.”

Everybody is starting to feel better.

“We’ve got one of the greatest closers in the league in Michael and maybe the best all-around player in the league in Scottie,” Kerr said. “It’s an unbelievable luxury to know that if we just go in and give a good effort off the bench for seven or eight minutes, we’ve got those guys behind us.”