NBA Roundup: NBA is back in business

Chris Sheridan

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The NBA returned to work with injured All-Stars Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing back on the job, Allen Iverson failing to back up his boast, Shawn Kemp on the bench and Michael Jordan doing his usual magic.

And, of course, there was the requisite sideshow featuring Dennis Rodman.

Back from an 11-game suspension, Rodman played in front of a United Center crowd that included his father, Philander, who flew in from the Phillipines at the expense of a television tabloid show. Dennis Rodman is one of 27 children the man says he has fathered.

The opening of the second half of the season offered no rest for the weary or the overexposed -- especially considering the cases of the two most visible members of the Chicago Bulls.

Jordan scored 43 points and made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Chicago a 103-100 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Rodman added 14 rebounds and had a playful reaction -- patting the man on the chest -- when he tumbled over a courtside cameraman in the fourth quarter.

"Are you happy David Stern?" Rodman said, referring to the NBA commissioner who suspended him for kicking cameraman Eugene Amos on Jan. 15 in Minnesota.

"It would have been a classic if I kissed him, but he probably would have sued me for slobbering all over him."

Rodman, who has not seen his father in 30 years, took a few shots after the game at the teammates who criticized him over the weekend at the All-Star game.

Included in that mix was Jordan, who insisted the Bulls could win without Rodman. But after the game ended, Jordan hugged Rodman as he walked off the court and said: "Welcome back."

Muggsy Bogues made a 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds left to tie it at 100. The Bulls didn't call timeout and quickly got the ball upcourt. Scottie Pippen passed to Jordan, who pulled up from 22 feet and hit the straightaway shot over Dell Curry as the clock ticked to zero.

The Bulls' 15th consecutive home victory gave them a league-best 43-6 record.

Glen Rice, coming off his All-Star game MVP performance, scored 32 points, but the Hornets still had their four-game winning streak snapped.

* ROCKETS 106, GRIZZLIES 97: At Houston, Barkley returned from the ankle injury that forced him to miss the All-Star game and finished with 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds. "My ankle was a little sore, but I feel good to be out there," Barkley said. "It will take a couple of weeks for me to be back. There's nothing you can do on the side to help you get prepared." Brent Price and Kevin Willis outscored the Grizzlies' reserves 40-9 with 20 points each as the Rockets ended their six-game losing streak. The Rockets used a 16-0 run beginning late in the third period to pull away.

* KNICKS 97, BULLETS 92: At Landover, Md., New York coach Jeff Van Gundy pulled his entire starting five after Washington scored 20 of the game's first 28 points. The tactic seemed to fire up the Knicks, who rallied in the third quarter to defeat Washington for the 20th time in 21 games and send new Bullets coach Bernie Bickerstaff to a loss in his debut. Ewing and John Starks scored 18 points each for the Knicks, who swept the four-game season series.

* CAVALIERS 105, 76ERS 94: At Cleveland, Iverson failed to do what he predicted -- get even with Cavs fans who booed him when he won the MVP award at the All-Star rookie game. Iverson scored 21 points but shot 5-for-22. Three of his field goals came late in the fourth quarter when the game had already been decided. "I looked real bad out there on my shot," said Iverson, who really heard it from the hecklers when he shot an air-ball on a 3-pointer with 2:34 to play. "I had a lot of shots that I usually hit. I missed layups. I just played a bad game. I have a lot more games to play in this arena, so they'll have more chances to boo me."

* SUPERSONICS 108, NUGGETS 81: At Seattle, Shawn Kemp was benched for the start of each half because he missed Monday's practice, but the Sonics hardly needed him as they won for only the third time in seven games. Gary Payton scored 28 points and Nate McMillan, who missed almost the entire season because of a torn groin muscle, played 16 minutes and had five assists, three steals and a blocked shot.

* JAZZ 120, KINGS 98: At Sacramento, Calif., Karl Malone answered the Kings' trash-talk with 30 points, including 14 in the third quarter, as Utah won for the eighth time in nine games. "Sometimes when you talk, you forget to play," Malone said. "We continued to play. Late in the game, they didn't have much to say."

* HEAT 104, PISTONS 91: At Miami, Tim Hardaway scored 31 points and Alonzo Mourning added 29 to help Miami, ranked 24th in the NBA in scoring, top 100 points for the fifth time in its current seven-game winning streak. Hardaway went 11-for-17, including three 3-pointers, and had 10 assists against the NBA's second-ranked defense. Mourning, playing despite a sore right heel that forced him to miss the All-Star Game, hit 10 of 14 shots. "It was the biggest game of the year for us," coach Pat Riley said. "We have been playing well and winning, but we haven't won much against the best teams in the league."

* SPURS 111, MAVERICKS 97: At Dallas, the Spurs won for the 12th time this season -- and the third against the Mavericks. Vernon Maxwell scored a season-high 34 points, including 15 during a decisive third-quarter run, Vinny Del Negro had 18 points and Carl Herrera added 14 for the Spurs, who topped the 100-point mark for just the seventh time this season.

* TRAIL BLAZERS 111, SUNS 108: At Portland, Ore., Kenny Anderson scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, including five free throws in the last 30 seconds, and Rasheed Wallace, in his second game back after missing 19 games with a broken left thumb, scored 30 points.

* CLIPPERS 116, CELTICS 112: At Los Angeles, Malik Sealy scored 21 points and Loy Vaught scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, including a baseline jumper with 1:22 remaining that put the Clippers ahead for good. Rick Fox led Boston with 27 points.

* BUCKS 101, RAPTORS 96: At Milwaukee, Vin Baker scored eight of Milwaukee's final 10 points and blocked several shots in the final 3:49 as the Bucks ended a five-game losing streak.

* NETS 104, MAGIC 98: At Orlando, Fla., Kendall Gill had 28 points and the Nets made eight free throws in the final 1:11 to stop Orlando's season-high five-game winning streak.