Bulls Humble ‘Nba’s Best’ Sonics’ Record Meaningless Against Champions

The Seattle SuperSonics have the NBA’s best record. The way the Chicago Bulls are playing, that might not be the case for much longer.

“With a team like that, it’s hard to make statements,” Michael Jordan said Tuesday night after he shook off a cold to score 40 points and lead the Bulls to a 101-91 victory over the Sonics. “But we feel that if we had our team intact all season long … we would have the best record.”

The Bulls again have Scottie Pippen, who had 11 points and six rebounds in his second game after missing the first 2-1/2 months while recovering from foot surgery.

“Chicago, with Pippen, is the clear-cut favorite in the East,” Sonics coach George Karl said. “If they would get beat, in my mind it would be a huge upset.”

Pippen looks rusty offensively, but has strengthened an already tough defense.

“His activity level is terrific,” Bulls coach Phil Jackson said. “He really gives us an opportunity to … take their first options away and make them have to search to find a way to score.”

Seattle entered the game as the NBA’s second-best shooting team at 48 percent but hit only 42 percent against Chicago. The Bulls also outrebounded the Sonics 48-36.

Chicago’s Ron Harper said it doesn’t matter that the Bulls (26-11) are three games behind Seattle (29-8) in the overall standings.

“The best record doesn’t mean anything right now,” he said. “It’s not like we want to get something that they have. They want something that we have - those five big championships. They want those rings.”

Gary Payton scored 22 points and Vin Baker 21 for Seattle, which has its first two-game losing streak this season.

“Yes, everyone saw this as a big game, but we just have to move on,” said Baker, whose 3-for-12 foul shooting hurt the Sonics. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this comes out to be the Finals. We’re playing the best in the West, and they are in the East.”

Dennis Rodman had 17 rebounds for the Bulls, who won their 15th consecutive home game and are 14-2 overall the last month.

Despite playing with a cold, Jordan reached 40 points for the fifth time in the last 10 games as he pushed his league-leading average to 29.1 points.

“I was able to play one end. Look at the stat sheet. I had what? One rebound?” Jordan said. “I know my limitations. I try not to overdo things. (Being sick) puts me in a mellow mood and my game tends to come to me a little easier.”

Jordan was 12 for 27 from the floor and 16 for 18 from the line as he either scored against or drew fouls on everyone who guarded him - from Payton to Hersey Hawkins to David Wingate to Dale Ellis to Detlef Schrempf.

Jordan committed a season-high five fouls himself, leaving the game after No. 5 with 1:47 to play. There were 60 fouls in the game, 31 on Chicago.

It was while Jordan was on the bench after getting his third foul with 2:52 left in the first half that the Bulls opened their double-digit lead. Jason Caffey scored four points and Steve Kerr hit a 3-pointer during a 10-2 run that made it 56-46 at halftime.

Notes

Harper said his back is “killing” him and after the game asked Jackson for some time off. Jackson said no decisions would be made for a day or two. … Including three losses in the ‘96 Finals, Seattle has lost 16 of its last 17 games at Chicago. … The Bulls are an NBA-best 19-1 at home. … After reviewing tapes of Saturday’s victory over Golden State, Bulls statisticians took one field goal, one fieldgoal attempt and two points from Pippen and gave them to Toni Kukoc. Pippen thus had 12 points in his 1997-98 debut.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Bulls 101, SuperSonics 91 FG FT Reb SEATTLE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Baker 40 9-16 3-12 2-7 2 5 21 Schrempf 38 3-10 9-11 1-5 1 4 16 McIlvaine 12 0-1 1-2 0-4 0 3 1 Payton 44 7-17 7-8 2-6 9 4 22 Hawkins 32 2-6 4-4 1-6 0 4 8 Perkins 18 1-5 2-2 2-3 0 3 4 Ellis 30 5-6 1-1 1-4 0 2 12 Wingate 9 2-7 1-2 0-0 0 3 5 Williams 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Anthony 8 1-2 0-0 0-1 1 0 2 Totals 240 30-71 28-42 9-36 13 29 91 Percentages: FG .423, FT .667. 3-Point Goals: 3-14, .214 (Ellis 1-1, Schrempf 1-3, Payton 1-6, Perkins 0-2, Wingate 0-2). Team Rebounds: 11. Blocked shots: 5 (Baker 2, Schrempf 2, Payton). Turnovers: 10 (Schrempf 3, Baker 2, Payton 2, Perkins, Ellis, Anthony). Steals: 6 (Baker 3, Wingate 2, Hawkins). Technical foul: Payton, 11:51 third. Illegal defense: None.

FG FT Reb CHICAGO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts Pippen 37 3-15 5-6 2-6 4 2 11 Rodman 33 1-2 2-2 4-17 6 4 4 Longley 17 4-7 0-0 0-3 2 6 8 Harper 31 2-5 2-2 3-4 2 4 6 Jordan 38 12-27 16-18 1-1 2 5 40 Kukoc 22 4-11 2-2 3-7 4 3 10 Burrell 16 2-3 0-0 1-2 3 2 4 Brown 5 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 0 Kerr 21 2-8 2-2 0-2 2 0 7 Caffey 15 3-4 3-4 2-4 0 3 9 Buechler 5 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 0 2 Totals 240 34-85 32-36 16-48 26 31 101 Percentages: FG .400, FT .889. 3-Point Goals: 1-12, .083 (Kerr 1-5, Jordan 0-2, Pippen 0-5). Team Rebounds: 15. Blocked shots: 3 (Pippen, Longley, Caffey). Turnovers: 13 (Pippen 4, Kukoc 3, Harper, Jordan, Brown, team 3). Steals: 6 (Rodman 2, Burrell 2, Pippen, Longley). Technical fouls: None. Illegal defense: None. Seattle 30 16 21 24 - 91 Chicago 29 27 26 19 - 101 A-24,112 (24,119). T-2:20.