Bulls' Scoreless Quarter Ends With Win

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls got a scoreless first quarter from Michael Jordan, blew a 12-point lead and had to rally in the fourth quarter against the lowly Vancouver Grizzlies.

They still came away with a victory.

Jordan finished with 24 points as the Bulls did what they had to -- and little more -- Friday night to beat Vancouver 98-92. Chicago (50-17) clinched a playoff spot with the victory, becoming the first Eastern Conference team to do so.

The Bulls retained their three game lead in the Central Division over Indiana, which beat New Jersey earlier in the night.

"Not really," coach Phil Jackson said when asked if he was worried about his team's dull play. "It's pretty obvious that when you play some real high-intensity games, you're going to come out with a game like that at some point."

Toni Kukoc added 16 points for the Bulls, and Scottie Pippen and Steve Kerr finished with 13 each. Kerr scored 10 of his 13 in the fourth quarter, including six during Chicago's 11-7 run to end the game.

Bryant Reeves led the Grizzlies (15-51) with 30 points and Shareef Abdur Rahim added 21. Sam Mack had 15, but no one else came close to double figures for Vancouver, which has lost six straight and 14 of its last 15.

"They didn't play at the top of their game and I understand that," Vancouver coach Brian Hill said. "We had ourselves in a position to, perhaps, steal one on the road. If we could have gotten some offensive execution down the stretch, who knows what would have happened."

After leading by as much as 12 in the first half, the Bulls got sloppy and let Vancouver back into the game. A 10-point lead in the third quarter dwindled to five as Chicago backed off on defense and gave the Grizzlies some easy baskets.

The fourth quarter was even worse. Pete Chilcutt narrowed the margin to 79-76 on a 3-pointer with 8:54 left in the game, and two free throws from Reeves brought the Grizzlies within one.

"We knew today to come ready for a game, and I guess we did," Kukoc said. "A few times we had 11 and 12-point leads. If we could have extended those, it would have been our game much earlier than it was."

Kukoc hit a layup, only to have Bobby Hurley answer with one of his own. Then Chilcutt stole yet another bad Bulls pass -- one of countless on the night -- and was fouled by Kerr as he drove to the basket. He made the second of two free throws to tie the game at 81 with 7:11 left.

After Reeves tied it again at 83 on a jumper with 6:30 left, Jordan and Kerr decided enough was enough. Kerr hit a jumper, then Jordan's basket put the Bulls ahead 87-83.

Reeves brought Vancouver to 87-85 on a jumper with 4:42 left, but that was it for the Grizzlies. Back-to-back baskets from Jordan and Kerr ignited an 11-7 run to end the game.

"We're not going anywhere. We're going home April 19. These last few games, we can come in and steal some victories," Reeves said. "Maybe be a spoiler for some team trying to get home advantage for the playoffs."

The Grizzlies shot just 32-of-82 (39 percent) from the floor, while the Bulls were 33-of-62 (53 percent). Vancouver outrebounded Chicago 43-33, and the Bulls had just eight offensive rebounds.

Dennis Rodman played just 15 minutes, grabbing four rebounds.

"Dennis did not have a lot of energy," Jackson said. ``Dennis complained about tendinitis in his knees. It was the first instance he talked about it."

Rodman wasn't the only Bull out of sorts. Jordan didn't even put up a shot until there were just 50 seconds left in the first quarter, and he missed the jumper. He finally scored his first points on a jumper from the top of the key with 10:20 left in the first half.

About the only good news for the Bulls was their bench. After going scoreless against Indiana on Tuesday, the reserves scored 35 against the Grizzlies.

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