Bulls Push Win Streak To Six Games
Toni Kukoc, Dennis Rodman and Scott Burrell sparked a 13-2 fourth-quarter run and the Chicago Bulls defeated the visiting Miami Heat 90-80 Thursday night in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finalists.
Michael Jordan had 24 points and 11 rebounds, Kukoc added 19 points and Rodman grabbed 13 rebounds as the Bulls extended their winning streak to six games. Chicago is 38-8 all-time against the Heat, including 10-1 in the playoffs.
The last time the teams met, Chicago defeated Miami in Game 5 to reach the NBA Finals.
During that game, Scottie Pippen injured his left foot and is still recovering from surgery. Immediately after the game, Jordan refused to shake Alonzo Mourning’s hand. And shortly thereafter, Miami coach Pat Riley said: “I don’t think anybody’s going to win again until Michael retires.”
He might be right. Even without Pippen, who has said he won’t play again for the Bulls even after he’s healthy, Chicago is 18-9 and only one game behind conference-leading Atlanta.
Mourning, in his fourth game since returning from knee surgery, had 16 points before fouling out with 3:34 to go. Jamal Mashburn scored 20 points for the Heat, who were outrebounded 53-34, including 17-6 on the offensive boards.
Three 3-pointers by Tim Hardaway rallied Miami to a 73-all tie with 7-1/2 minutes to play, but the Heat managed only two more points in the next five minutes.
Reporter won’t appeal in Nets case
The reporter whose lawsuit against New Jersey Nets coach John Calipari was dismissed said he does not plan to appeal.
“I haven’t talked to my lawyer, but I wouldn’t anticipate doing anything,” Dan Garcia of the Star-Ledger of Newark said.
Garcia contended in his suit that he suffered “extreme humiliation and emotional distress” because Calipari called him “a Mexican idiot” in a confrontation after a practice at Ramapo College on March 20.
Four days later, Calipari read a public apology and was fined $25,000 by the NBA.
Police take Wallace’s child
The Kings Mountain, N.C., police took custody of the 2-year-old son at the center of a dispute between the Portland Trail Blazers Rasheed Wallace and the boy’s mother, but the woman was not arrested, police said.
Wallace, a former North Carolina star, and the mother, Chiquita Lynette Bryant, have been involved in custody battles for more than a year over 2-year-old Ishmiel Shaeed. A judge ruled more than six months ago that the child’s mother was intentionally preventing Wallace from seeing the boy.