Bulls Survive Opener

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen admitted it: The Chicago Bulls lucked out.

They played poorly for most of the game, lost Dennis Rodman in the third quarter on technical fouls and failed to match Atlanta’s intensity in the first half. Nevertheless, the Bulls managed to defeat the Hawks 100-97 Tuesday night in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinal series at Chicago.

“This was a close call,” said Jordan, who had 34 points and 11 rebounds but scored only one point in the fourth quarter and made several uncharacteristic mistakes down the stretch.

“The positive thing we take from this game is we know we can play better - and we have to play better to be successful,” Jordan said.

“Hopefully, we can make it to the point where we’re not shooting ourselves in our own foot. Luckily, we won the game.”

Bulls 100, Hawks 97

Atlanta (97) - Laettner 3-7 0-0 6, Corbin 6-12 0-0 14, Mutombo 3-7 4-6 10, Smith 4-13 10-11 19, Blaylock 11-25 4-5 31, Henderson 4-8 5-6 13, James 1-4 0-0 2, Recasner 1-1 0-0 2, Hancock 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-77 23-28 97.

Chicago (100) - Pippen 11-24 1-3 29, Rodman 0-1 0-0 0, Longley 3-7 2-4 8, Harper 4-9 2-2 11, Jordan 13-25 7-10 34, Kukoc 2-5 2-6 7, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Caffey 1-1 0-0 2, Kerr 1-3 0-0 3, Williams 1-1 2-4 4, Buechler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-79 16-29 100.

Atlanta 26 24 20 27 - 97 Chicago 19 20 38 23 - 100

3-Point goals-Atlanta 8-24 (Blaylock 5-15, Corbin 2-5, Smith 1-3, Laettner 0-1), Chicago 10-25 (Pippen 6-10, Jordan 1-3, Kerr 1-3, Harper 1-4, Kukoc 1-4, Rodman 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Atlanta 55 (Blaylock 12), Chicago 49 (Jordan 11). Assists-Atlanta 15 (Laettner 6), Chicago 22 (Jordan 6). Total fouls-Atlanta 23, Chicago 20. Technicals-Rodman 2, Kukoc. Ejection-Rodman. A-24,397 (23,854).

Jazz 103, Lakers 101 Salt Lake City

This time, the Los Angeles Lakers stayed with Utah for the full 48 minutes.

Still, when Karl Malone knocked the ball away from Nick Van Exel right before the final buzzer, the result of Game 2 was the same as it was in Game 1: A victory for the Jazz.

Antoine Carr made two foul shots with 2.1 seconds left for his only points of the game, and Utah got a break when no foul was called on the final play of a 103-101 victory.

It gave Utah a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series, which resumes Thursday night at Inglewood, Calif.

Malone scored 31 points, Jeff Hornacek added 21 and John Stockton had 16 points and seven assists for the Jazz, who survived an NBA record-setting 7-for-7 3-point shooting effort by the Lakers’ Robert Horry.

Shaquille O’Neal scored 25 points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

L.A. Lakers (101) - Horry 7-7 0-0 21, Campbell 2-5 3-4 7, O’Neal 10-25 5-10 25, Jones 0-3 0-0 0, Van Exel 6-17 2-3 15, Kersey 2-3 1-2 5, Scott 7-11 7-7 24, Bryant 1-1 0-0 2, Rooks 0-0 0-0 0, Knight 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 36-73 18-26 101.

Utah (103) - Russell 5-7 2-2 14, Malone 12-26 7-9 31, Ostertag 1-1 2-2 4, Hornacek 5-11 9-9 21, Stockton 5-9 6-8 16, Foster 3-4 3-4 9, Eisley 1-2 2-2 4, Morris 1-4 0-0 2, Carr 0-1 2-2 2, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-65 33-38 103.

L.A. Lakers 24 31 30 16 - 101 Utah 27 32 28 16 - 103

3-Point goals-Los Angeles 11-18 (Horry 7-7, Scott 3-5, Van Exel 1-6), Utah 4-13 (Russell 2-4, Hornacek 2-4, Morris 0-2, Stockton 0-3). Fouled out-Russell, Ostertag. Rebounds-Los Angeles 40 (O’Neal 12), Utah 42 (Malone 11). Assists-Los Angeles 24 (Van Exel 12), Utah 26 (Hornacek, Stockton 7). Total fouls-Los Angeles 24, Utah 27. Technicals-Van Exel, Los Angeles illegal defense 4, Utah illegal defense 2. A-19,911 (19,911).