Bulls beat Celtics 13th time in 14 meetings

CHICAGO, IL Dennis Rodman grabbed another 20 rebounds and Toni Kukoc scored 9 of his 19 points during a decisive second-half run as the Chicago Bulls won their 13th straight home game, 90-79 over Boston on Tuesday night.

Kukoc also had eight rebounds and six assists and Michael Jordan scored 19 for Chicago, which has won 11 of its last 12 games and improved its NBA-best home record to 17-1.

Rodman had at least 20 rebounds for the eighth time this season and the seventh time in 11 games.

Antoine Walker and Ron Mercer had 20 points apiece for the Celtics, who are 1-13 against Chicago since the start of the 1994-95 season.

It was 60-60 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter before Kukoc started the decisive 20-7 run with a three-point play. Kukoc also had a dunk, a 20-foot jumper, two free throws and an assist during the surge as the Bulls took an 80-67 lead.

Kukoc wasn't the only Chicago player to provide support for Jordan, who had averaged 40 points over the previous five games.

Jud Buechler came off the bench to score a season-high nine points, all in the final 6:37 of the second quarter.

Rodman and Ron Harper also had nine points each while reserves Scott Burrell and Steve Kerr added eight apiece.

It was a ragged game, with each team shooting 42 percent.

The Bulls were hitting only 29 percent of their shots and trailing 27-23 with 6:55 left in the first half when Buechler came in and made four straight shots, including a 3-pointer, to help them take a 43-40 halftime lead.

Notes: The Bulls outrebounded the Celtics 51-39 and have had the advantage on the boards in their last 13 games. ... It was a rare game in which Kukoc took more shots than Jordan, 19-13. Still, Jordan has taken more shots (762) than the next two Bulls, Kukoc and Luc Longley, combined (741). ... Boston's Andrew DeClercq, at 43 percent one of the NBA's worst free-throw shooters, banked one in during the third quarter.