Bulls Set Record With 70th Chicago Sets Record For Wins With Squeaker Over Milwaukee

Players passed out cigars and Dennis Rodman topped his pink hair with a funny hat. Even though the Chicago Bulls insist their ultimate goal is a championship, they were clearly in the mood to celebrate after stamping a big 70 on a season of unprecedented success.

Their milestone victory, however, turned out to be a struggle.

On Tuesday night at least, the Bulls looked all too average for a team that may be the best in NBA history. Struggling to get past the lowly Milwaukee Bucks with a 86-80 victory, they didn’t dominate this one the way they have so many this season. And Michael Jordan didn’t take over the fourth quarter the way he has so many times in his career.

“It was a very ugly game, but sometimes ugly is beautiful,” Jordan said. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to end this 70 business right here.”

Chicago (70-9) topped the 69-13 mark of the 1971-72 Lakers.

With three games left, the Bulls can still finish with a single digit in the loss column and go into the playoffs on a roll. And with the quest for 70 wins out of the way, the focus will shift to winning a title for the first time since 1993.

“We have to win it, we have to win,” said Rodman, wearing one of the yellow cheesehead hats popular with Wisconsin sports fans. “If we don’t win it, we might as well be done playing and go to Beirut or somewhere. It would be a big letdown.”

The Bulls seemed to be setting themselves up for a letdown as they trailed throughout the second and third quarters against a team that had lost 19 of its last 22 games.

Chicago shot 39 percent, didn’t get a spectacular game from any of its superstars and didn’t score a field goal in the last 4-1/2 minutes. The Bucks, however, failed to score in the final 4:19.

“We didn’t really play our kind of basketball,” said Jordan, who had 22 points. “Somehow, our defense kind of got hot and we were able to hold them down.”

Jordan shot just 9-of-27 from the field, missing all his shots in the final 4 minutes when Chicago struggled to pull away. His biggest play, however, was blocking a 3-point attempt by Johnny Newman with 16 seconds left that could have pulled the Bucks within one.

Instead, Steve Kerr was fouled, made two foul shots and the outcome was sealed.

The Bucks didn’t even play defense in the final 6 seconds, allowing the Bulls to walk off their court hugging and high-fiving, their season-long goal fulfilled.

“I think relief is the overwhelming emotion. This basketball club has done a great job of finding the clues to solve the puzzles,” coach Phil Jackson said.

It’s been a season almost beyond comparison for the Bulls, a run of success unlike any that’s been seen in the NBA’s 49-year history. They won their first 37 home games, setting a mark for most consecutive victories at the start of a season and most spanning two seasons (44 straight).

“We’re not going to be upset any more for the rest of the season,” Rodman said. “We’re going to go out there and set a standard that this is the way it’s going to be done. It’s going to be done the Bulls way.”

Scottie Pippen and Luc Longley had 16 each for Chicago, and no one else reached double figures.

Vin Baker led Milwaukee with 28 points, but the Bucks had five of their 10 turnovers in the final 4 minutes as the Bulls’ pressure turned out to be too much.

Notes

Chicago is still trying to match the best home record in NBA history, 40-1 by the 1985-86 Celtics. The Bulls have home games left against Detroit and Indiana before finishing the season at Washington on Sunday. … More than 300 media members covered the game. … The Bulls won their sixth straight road game and fourth overall.

Chicago 86, Milwaukee 80

Chicago (86) - Kukoc 3-8 1-2 7, Pippen 7-19 1-2 16, Longley 6-11 4-5 16, Harper 2-7 4-4 9, Jordan 9-27 3-4 22, Rodman 3-6 1-4 7, Kerr 3-4 2-2 9, Wennington 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 33-85 16-23 86.

Milwaukee (80) - Keys 0-5 2-2 2, Robinson 4-14 0-2 10, Baker 13-28 2-4 28, Douglas 5-9 4-5 14, Newman 6-11 0-0 12, Cummings 5-9 0-0 10, Mayberry 0-0 0-0 0, Respert 1-4 0-0 3, Benjamin 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 34-81 9-15 80.

Chicago 28 12 22 24 - 86

Milwaukee 25 24 19 12 - 80

3-Point goals-Chicago 4-18 (Kerr 1-1, Jordan 1-4, Harper 1-5, Pippen 1-6, Kukoc 0-2), Milwaukee 3-16 (Robinson 2-5, Respert 1-4, Keys 0-2, Newman 0-2, Baker 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Chicago 60 (Rodman 19), Milwaukee 52 (Baker 12). Assists-Chicago 21 (Kukoc, Jordan, Rodman 4), Milwaukee 14 (Douglas 4). Total fouls-Chicago 16, Milwaukee 22. Technicals-Robinson, Baker. A-18,633 (18,633).