Pippen, Rodman Lift Bulls Over Magic

March 26, 1998 / 12:08 AM EST / CBS/AP

Orlando's playoff fortunes weren't helped by a visit from the Chicago Bulls.

Scottie Pippen scored 23 points and Michael Jordan had 17 Wednesday night as the defending NBA champions beat the Magic 85-70 for their seventh straight victory.

In what may have been his last game at Orlando Arena, Jordan shot just 8-of-21 in 38 minutes. But the Bulls didn't need a lot of offense from him after building an early 13-point lead.

Dennis Rodman didn't take a shot until midway through the fourth quarter but had 18 rebounds for Chicago, which improved the NBA's best record to 53-17.

"This is a club that knows exactly what they're doing," Magic coach Chuck Daly said.

"They're playing for best record and home court. They know we're one of the teams that are in contention to face them in the playoffs, and they want to make sure you remember how they play. They came out and really took it to us."

The loss was the second in as many nights for Orlando, which is battling Washington and New Jersey for the eighth playoff position in the Eastern Conference.

With Jordan's future with the Bulls in doubt, Wednesday night could be his last appearance in Orlando unless the Magic are able to gain the eighth playoff spot and Chicago holds onto the best record in the East.

Under that scenario, the teams would meet in a best-of-5, first-round series that Orlando's Derek Harper said wouldn't necessarily be as one-sided as this latest game.

"Obviously we gave them everything that makes them successful," Harper said. "We gave them 3's, we gave them transition baskets, we gave them layups. And when you give Chicago everything that makes them good, then you're going to have a tough time beating them."

Nick Anderson, returning to Orlando's lineup after missing two games because of a strained left hamstring, led the Magic with 21 points. Reserve Kevin Ollie had 14 points and Bo Outlaw grabbed 11 rebounds.

Pippen scored 11 of Chicago's first 15 points, the Bulls opened a double-digit lead during a 14-0 opening-quarter run and were never seriously threatened after that.

"We may have to face this team again down the road," Jordan said. "Our purpose was to come out and get some confidence against them. They beat us the last time here, so we had that going for us. We were motivated enough coming into this game."

With Anderson starting slowly, Orlando struggled to find consistent scoring. The Magic missed 27 of 40 shots in the first half and were 27-for-76 for the game (35.5 percent).

Anderson, who was 2-for-9 with four points at the half, has averaged more than 24 points per game since the All-Star break. He scored his 17 second-half points on 5-for-15 shooting, but the closest the Magic could get after trailing by 8 at the half was 74-59 early in the fourth quarter.

Notes: Besides not gaining any ground in their quest for a playoff berth, the Magic failed for the second time to give coach Chuck Daly his 600th career victory ... Jordan, who had made 10 straight from the foul line going into the game, missed the only free throw he attempted to remain in eighth place on the NBA career list for free throws made with 6,706 six behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.