Semisonics Bury Part-Bulls
Vin Baker scored 24 points in his Seattle debut Friday night as the short-handed SuperSonics opened the preseason with a 100-79 victory in Chicago over the even more undermanned Bulls.
Michael Jordan had 15 points in 23 minutes for the Bulls, who were without Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and Ron Harper - three-fifths of the starting lineup that won the past two NBA titles.
Pippen underwent foot surgery Monday and will miss up to three months. Rodman, bothered by bronchitis and a touch of pneumonia, couldn’t complete his physical examination Friday and isn’t expected to sign his new one-year contract for about two weeks. Harper is bothered by sore knees.
The Sonics were without starters Gary Payton (sore back) and Detlef Schrempf (hand surgery), as well as backups Nate McMillan (knee surgery) and Jim McIlvaine (sprained ankle).
Baker, acquired from Milwaukee in last month’s big three-team trade that sent disgruntled Shawn Kemp to Cleveland, was simply too powerful and quick for the Bulls. Baker was 8 of 13 from the floor in his 25 minutes of play.
Preseason losses haven’t meant much in recent Bulls history. They went 5-3 and 4-4 in the last two preseasons, but still went 141-23 in the best back-to-back regular seasons in NBA history.
Bird on the wire
Larry Bird sagged against the white wall outside the Indiana Pacers dressing room in Dayton, Ohio, hands tucked in the pockets of his tan pants. He looked rather, uh, uncomfortable.
“I’ve always felt weird standing in a suit coat,” Bird said. “I’ve been around gymnasiums and coliseums my whole life. This time I’m not shooting, I’m sitting.”
More precisely, he’s coaching.
Bird took his first official steps as a head coach Friday night, leading the Pacers into their exhibition opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He got a standing ovation when he walked out of the tunnel in his brown suit with 1:15 left before the opening tip. He waved his right hand to the crowd and then sat on the bench to consult with his coaches.
At one point, he glanced at the palms of his hands. Was he expecting to find sweat?
“Everybody thinks I’m uptight or something,” Bird said. “Once I step out there, it’s not up to me, it’s up to the players.”
And that may be the biggest adjustment for the man they call Larry Legend in his home state of Indiana, a short drive west from the University of Dayton Arena.
Bird, 40, is stepping into the first coaching job of his impressive career. He’s not done anything like it. His job now is to get the Pacers, a team that passed him over in the 1978 draft, back into the playoffs.
Bird’s coaching debut couldn’t have been much tougher: He lost a game and two players.
The Indiana Pacers lost first-round draft pick Austin Croshere for six weeks to a broken hand and Antonio Davis to a sprained left ankle on their way to losing their preseason opener 105-98 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Croshere broke his left hand while trying to block a shot in the second quarter. He played only 2 minutes, scored four points and headed for X-rays that found the fracture. Davis left the game in the third quarter after severely spraining his ankle.
And the Pacers found themselves playing catch-up most of the game against the Cavaliers, who seemed energized by the debut of Shawn Kemp, who scored 16 points in 18 minutes.
Pitino foiled in debut
New coach, same old Celtics.
Rick Pitino’s debut with the Boston Celtics featured aggressive defense and all-out hustle. The result, however, was a 113-89 exhibition loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
Atlanta opened the second half with a 19-2 run, extending an eight-point lead to 25 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. The Hawks led by as many as 30 in the fourth quarter.
Antoine Walker led Boston with 27 points and Chris Crawford had 16 for Atlanta.
“I sort of expected what happened tonight,” Pitino said. “I told the guys the first few exhibition games wouldn’t mean much to us. We have to learn our offenses and defenses.”
Knicks win dispute
A dispute between general managers Ernie Grunfeld of New York and Bob Whitsitt of Portland held up the Chris Dudley-John Wallace trade for another day until an arbitrator ruled in the Knicks’ favor Friday.
It was the second major conflict between the GMs since the trade was first agreed to Aug. 19.
xxxx Coming up Oct. 21: The Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors will play an NBA exhibition game at the Spokane Arena at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, the Arena box office is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. To charge by phone, call 325-SEAT or (800) 325-SEAT.