Beating Knicks Is Childs Play for Bulls

It was another Bulls-Knicks nail-biter, another loss for New York that was tough to handle.

Michael Jordan scored 44 points, surpassing 40 for the fourth time since Christmas, and Chicago defeated the Knicks, 90-89, Friday night when Chris Childs missed a three-point shot just before the final buzzer at New York.

It was the second game of the season between the old rivals, and many of the main characters were missing. Patrick Ewing and Scottie Pippen were out because of major injuries, Toni Kukoc was a late scratch because of a respiratory infection and John Starks was hampered by a strained hamstring.

Jordan took up the slack for the Bulls by scoring nearly half their points, and Chicago held New York to three points over the final four minutes.

New York had a shot at the winning basket after Allan Houston blocked Scott Burrell’s corner jumper with 11 seconds left. The Knicks got control of the ball two seconds later, but Childs dribbled the ball upcourt instead of calling the team’s final timeout.

“I was as shocked as anyone that they didn’t call timeout. When I got back to the locker room, I checked to see if they had one,” Jordan said. “And I was shocked that Childs took that shot. I thought he would try to penetrate and draw a foul.”

Childs reached the three-point arc on the right side with three seconds left, and with Jordan lagging off him, pulled up and shot. The attempt was short, and the horn sounded as the ball bounced off the rim.

“I wasn’t going to take the timeout because they are vulnerable in transition,” Knick Coach Jeff Van Gundy said. “He got a clean look. Last game he made it and we won. This game he missed and we lost.”

“I heard [Van Gundy] say ‘Go.’ I didn’t hear timeout,” Childs said. “I looked for Larry [Johnson] on the block, it wasn’t there, Michael sagged and I took the shot.”

It was a frustrating loss for the Knicks, who led for most of the game but self-destructed late in the fourth quarter. Houston committed two turnovers and missed a layup, and Johnson missed a layup and a free throw after the Knicks had made their first 21 free throws.

Ron Harper had 15 points for Chicago, which won on the road for only the seventh time in 17 games, and Burrell made his second start of the season and had a season-high 10 points. Dennis Rodman had only two points and seven rebounds before fouling out with over five minutes left. He also drew his seventh technical foul of the season.

Detroit 101, Golden State 72--Jerry Stackhouse scored 19 points as the Pistons routed the Warriors at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Grant Hill had 14 points, nine assists and four steals for Detroit. Reserve Malik Sealy also had 14 points, and Jerome Williams had 12 rebounds in 20 minutes for the Pistons.

Joe Smith had 16 points and seven rebounds for Golden State, which made only 11 of 21 free throws. Tony Delk added 14 assists for the Warriors.

The Pistons were 20-for-23 from the foul line and outrebounded the Warriors 51-36.

Seattle 111, Boston 92--Making jumpers like they were layups and making plenty of layups too, the SuperSonics cruised at Boston behind Vin Baker’s 22 points.

The SuperSonics never trailed, shot 61% percent from the field and outscored the Celtics, 29-4, at the foul line en route to their eighth consecutive win overall and eighth in a row on the road.

“It has been a dream-like season for us,” Seattle Coach George Karl said. “Most teams are happy with 20 wins on the road. We could get 30.”

The Sonics’ 10-1 road record leads the league. Friday’s victory gave them three in four days by an average margin of 21.7 points.

Seattle took only 34 shots in the first half but made 23, including many long jumpers.

Dale Ellis had 19 points and Gary Payton 18 for Seattle, which was coming off a 109-94 victory at Cleveland on Thursday night.

Boston, which suffered its third consecutive loss, was led by Travis Knight with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Antoine Walker, who had a career-high 49 points in Wednesday night’s loss at Washington, was one of three Celtics with 14. Ron Mercer and Dana Barros were the others.

“Seattle is a great basketball team,” Boston Coach Rick Pitino said. “Hopefully, some day, we can get to that level.”

Phoenix 100, San Antonio 79--Rex Chapman and Antonio McDyess each scored 18 points at Phoenix, and the Suns played a turnover-free game for three quarters to end San Antonio’s winning streak at five games.

Steve Nash scored 16 points, and Jason Kidd had 10 points and 12 assists for the Suns, who did not commit a turnover until McDyess lost the ball out of bounds trying a spin move on David Robinson 1:50 in the fourth quarter.

Atlanta 82, Washington 77--Steve Smith scored 22 points, including a key jumper with 18.7 seconds left, as the Hawks won at Atlanta, after blowing an 18-point lead.

With the Hawks leading, 78-77, Smith made a 15-footer as the shot clock was running out.

After Washington’s Chris Webber missed a three-point shot with 10 seconds left, Calvin Cheaney of the Wizards got the rebound but was called for traveling.

Smith was fouled with 3.1 seconds remaining and made both free throws to clinch Atlanta’s second consecutive victory after losing seven in a row.

“I want the ball in the last seconds,” Smith said. “I don’t have any hesitation. I got a half-step and had a good look.”

The 6-foot-8 guard knew he was in for a long night after the Hawks put starting point guard Mookie Blaylock and rookie Ed Gray on the injured list before the game.

Alan Henderson added 18 points for the Hawks, including a tip-in with 43.7 seconds left to give Atlanta a 78-75 lead. Christian Laettner had 17 points for the Hawks.

Webber scored 20 points for Washington, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Juwan Howard added 19 points for the Wizards.

“I’m glad we just kept our energy and didn’t give up when we were down 20 or so,” Webber said.

Minnesota 96, Portland 91--Stephon Marbury scored 27 points, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 44.4 seconds left to lift the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

Sam Mitchell added 20 points, including a tying jumper and two free throws in the final 1:13, as Minnesota beat Portland at home for only the third time in 18 games since joining the NBA in 1989.

Portland’s Isaiah Rider scored 32 points against his former team and Arvydas Sabonis had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Trail Blazers. Sabonis fouled out with 21 seconds left, getting all six fouls in the second half.

“I’ve done this plenty of times in Minnesota--score a lot of points and lose,” Rider said.

Kenny Anderson had 14 points and 10 assists for Portland.

Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Miami 98, Denver 79--Alonzo Mourning had 25 points and 12 rebounds at Denver as the Heat sent the Nuggets to their franchise-record 16th consecutive loss.

P.J. Brown added 19 points and Voshon Lenard had 14 for the Heat.

Mourning’s jumper with 3:30 left gave Miami a 90-75 lead. Lenard then made a three-pointer and the Heat went on to beat the Nuggets for the sixth time in a row.

LaPhonso Ellis led the Nuggets with 19 points.

Miami’s Isaac Austin was ejected with 8:06 remaining in the first half after getting two technicals 19 seconds apart.

After getting called for traveling, Austin argued with officials and received his first technical. After Denver got the ball, Austin was whistled for fouling Bobby Jackson and then protested by waving his hands and shouting at the referees. He was then hit with another technical and ejected.

Charlotte 98, Vancouver 90--Glen Rice scored 26 points at Vancouver as the Hornets handed the Grizzlies their ninth straight loss.

After nine lead changes in the second half, the Hornets went up for good when Bobby Phills made a three-point basket early in the fourth quarter.

The Hornets then took control by going on a 12-5 run to build an 87-77 lead with 4:24 left.

Vlade Divac scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, including a key layup around Grizzlies’ center Bryant Reeves with 48 seconds left to put Charlotte ahead, 93-86.

Charlotte’s Anthony Mason finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 22 points for the Grizzlies, who have lost seven in a row at home. Reeves had 20 points and nine rebounds for Vancouver.