Bulls Three Steps Away From Record 15-0 Start

Around the NBA

The Chicago Bulls have the No. 1 offense, the No. 2 defense and are thumping opponents by a whopping 19.2 points a game.

If the 12-0 Bulls win at Utah tonight, then beat the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, they can match the record for best start, 15-0 - and they’re not looking much further.

“We can’t look at records right now,” said Scottie Pippen. “We know the 33-consecutive win record (set by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1971-72) is out there. But we’re just trying to play each game as hard as possible.”

Riley sought Magic touch

Magic Johnson said last week he was approached by Pat Riley during the summer about joining the Miami Heat.

“He wanted me to play before he even signed Juwan (Howard),” Johnson said. “I was going to be the piece to put him over the top.”

Injury report

The Boston Celtics’ injury problems grew worse when center Pervis Ellison broke his right big toe when he dropped a table on it.

Ellison is expected to be out 8 to 12 weeks following the mishap at home. Four players who were expected to start for Boston when the season began - Ellison, David Wesley, Dino Radja and Greg Minor - are injured.

The San Antonio Spurs have steered clear of putting any timeline on the return of center David Robinson, at least publicly, but he had been hopeful of playing sometime on the three-game trip that started Friday. However, the latest update says his back injury will keep him out another two weeks and maybe as long as a month.

The Dallas Mavericks put forward Jamal Mashburn on the injured reserve list after a CAT scan revealed he had a displaced fracture of the right cheekbone, an injury suffered Thursday night. Mashburn is averaging 10.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, mostly coming off the bench. … Backup center Robert Parrish was placed on the injured list by the Bulls, who activated forward Dickey Simpkins.