Bulls Win Behind Unlikely Hero

NBA

The Bulls are headed back to Chicago with a 3-1 lead, thanks to Bill Wennington and not Michael Jordan.

Jordan didn’t have a field goal in the fourth quarter and didn’t score a point in the period until 11 seconds remained, but Wennington made two key baskets late in the game and the Bulls beat the New York Knicks 94-91 Sunday in New York.

Chicago went more than 6 minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter, allowing the Knicks to come back from an 11-point deficit and take a 89-86 lead.

Wennington broke the drought with a dunk over Patrick Ewing with 1:32 left, then the reserve center put Chicago ahead for good on a baseline jumper with 37 seconds to go.

Ewing missed a jumper and Jordan made two foul shots with 11.2 seconds left, giving the Knicks a chance to try for a tie. But John Starks had trouble handling a pass from Anthony Mason and was called for walking with 1.2 seconds left - just before he drained a 3-pointer that would have tied it.

Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night.

Bulls 94, Knicks 91

Chicago (94) - Rodman 3-10 0-2 6, Pippen 3-11 2-4 9, Longley 2-5 1-2 5, Jordan 7-23 11-13 27, R.Harper 6-15 3-3 18, Kerr 2-2 3-3 7, Brown 3-4 2-2 8, Edwards 1-4 0-0 2, Buechler 3-3 0-0 6, Wennington 2-3 0-0 4, Salley 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 33-81 22-29 94.

New York (91) - Oakley 6-9 5-6 17, Mason 0-2 1-2 1, Ewing 10-21 9-10 29, Starks 4-11 4-5 13, D.Harper 5-8 2-2 15, Ward 1-2 1-3 3, Anderson 1-1 2-2 5, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 2-4 4-4 8. Totals 29-58 28-34 91.

Chicago 24 27 26 17 - 94

New York 28 22 18 23 - 91

3-Point goals-Chicago 6-20 (R.Harper 3-9, Jordan 2-7, Pippen 1-4), New York 5-14 (D.Harper 3-6, Anderson 1-1, Starks 1-5, Oakley 0-1, Ward 0-1). Fouled out-Longley. Rebounds-Chicago 55 (Rodman 19), New York 35 (Ewing 10). Assists-Chicago 22 (Jordan 8), New York 14 (D.Harper 5). Total fouls-Chicago 28, New York 27. Technicals-Rodman, Chicago coach Jackson, Longley, Oakley, New York illegal defense. Flagrant foul-Jordan. A-19,763 (19,763).

Jazz 101, Spurs 86

Salt Lake City

Another blowout victory for Utah, another woeful performance by David Robinson.

Chris Morris scored 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting, Karl Malone had 22 points and the Jazz took a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series against San Antonio with the victory.

Utah’s three victories have been by 20, 30 and 15 points. Game 5 is Tuesday night at the Alamodome.

Robinson had just 11 points - the same as in the Spurs’ 105-75 loss Saturday - and took just three shots from the field before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

The 6-foot-8 Morris, a starter ever since David Benoit was sidelined by a bruised knee at the outset of this series, averaged just 5.1 points in Games 1-3 but was 3-for-4 from 3-point range in Game 4.

John Stockton added 13 points and 10 assists.

San Antonio (86) - Elliott 6-15 8-10 22, Smith 3-5 0-0 6, Robinson 2-3 7-10 11, Del Negro 4-11 1-2 9, Johnson 5-10 4-5 14, Perdue 0-2 0-0 0, Person 6-9 3-3 17, Alexander 3-6 0-0 6, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Herrera 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 29-63 24-32 86.

Utah (101) - Morris 11-14 0-0 25, Malone 6-15 10-10 22, Spencer 0-0 1-2 1, Hornacek 3-10 3-3 10, Stockton 5-9 2-2 13, Eisley 2-4 2-2 8, Ostertag 0-1 0-0 0, Keefe 5-5 1-2 11, Carr 2-4 0-0 4, Russell 2-6 2-2 7, Benoit 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-68 21-23 101.

San Antonio 20 22 32 12 - 86

Utah 24 29 30 18 - 101

3-Point goals-San Antonio 4-9 (Elliott 2-4, Person 2-5), Utah 8-11 (Morris 3-4, Eisley 2-2, Hornacek 1-1, Stockton 1-1, Russell 1-3). Fouled out-Robinson. Rebounds-San Antonio 40 (Perdue, Person 7), Utah 36 (Keefe 7). Assists-San Antonio 15 (Johnson 8), Utah 27 (Stockton 10). Total fouls-San Antonio 23, Utah 24. Technical-Perdue. A-19,911 (19,911).

Magic 103, Hawks 96

Atlanta Orlando, a team looking for redemption after being swept in the NBA finals last year, is one game away from sweeping Atlanta.

The Magic, led by 24 points from Shaquille O’Neal, took a 3-0 lead over Atlanta in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals with the victory.

Foul trouble kept O’Neal on the bench for long stretches in the second half, but he came up with two big plays in the final minutes.

After Atlanta cut the Magic lead to 97-96 on two free throws by Christian Laettner with 2:47 remaining, O’Neal caught a pass in the lane with Laettner on his back. Instead of trying to force up a shot and risk his sixth foul, O’Neal dished the ball outside to Dennis Scott, who hit a 3-pointer with 2:28 left.

O’Neal sealed the victory at the defensive end. Steve Smith drove through the lane but was stuffed by Shaq, with the ball deflecting out of bounds off Smith’s back.

Orlando (103) - Scott 5-8 1-1 15, Grant 6-9 8-8 20, O’Neal 10-16 4-13 24, Anderson 7-16 2-4 18, Hardaway 9-19 2-4 21, Koncak 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 2-7 0-0 5, Bowie 0-0 0-0 0, Wolf 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-76 17-30 103.

Atlanta (96) - Augmon 4-7 4-5 12, Long 2-7 9-10 13, Laettner 11-20 4-7 26, Smith 5-11 5-6 16, Blaylock 8-17 0-0 20, Ehlo 0-3 1-2 1, Rooks 3-4 0-0 6, Henderson 1-1 0-0 2, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0, Bullard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-70 23-30 96.

Orlando 31 23 28 21 - 103

Atlanta 30 21 31 14 - 96

3-Point goals-Orlando 8-18 (Scott 4-6, Anderson 2-8, Hardaway 1-2, Shaw 1-2), Atlanta 5-17 (Blaylock 4-9, Smith 1-4, Ehlo 0-1, Long 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Orlando 54 (O’Neal 12), Atlanta 39 (Long 13). Assists-Orlando 20 (Hardaway 6), Atlanta 24 (Blaylock 8). Total fouls-Orlando 25, Atlanta 20. Technicals-Orlando illegal defense 3, Atlanta illegal defense. A-15,476 (16,378).