LANDOVER, Md. The spirit of political change sweeping throughWashington, D.C. appears to have spread to the local NBA franchise.The new-look Washington Bullets have shown flashes of a promisingfuture.
But the Bulls came to town concerned only with the present and anasty little three-game road losing streak.
Both teams went home happy Thursday - the Bullets with a solidperformance from their rookies and the Bulls with a 107-99 victory atthe Capital Centre.
"It was really on our minds," said Bulls coach Phil Jackson ofthe losing streak. "We are a team that takes a lot of pride inwinning on the road and stepping up. We know we never play wellhere. At least one or two times a year we have a hard time playingin this arena."
Washington (7-15) stayed in the game thanks to brilliant playfrom vaunted rookie Tom Gugliotta, who showed such a versatileall-around game that Jordan followed the lead of many NBA observersand compared him to Larry Bird. Gugliotta finished with 25 points on11-of-19 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds.
The victory was the eighth in a row for the Bulls (15-6) overWashington and fourth straight at the Capitol Centre, where they havestruggled in past seasons. Problems in the past used to have littleto do with the Bullets; the lighting in the arena is poor, there is aloudmouth fan seated behind the visiting bench screaming throughoutthe game, and Jordan often has poor shooting nights.
Jordan struggled from the field Thursday, shooting 41 percent(12-of-29). But the Bulls star did connect when it mattered most,scoring 12 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter. He added eightassists and seven rebounds.
"I was getting great shots," Jordan said. "I was just veryflat and din't have the legs. I couldn't stop shooting because Iwas in great position. I had to continue to shoot and somehow Ifound some rhythm in the fourth quarter."
The Bulls took the lead for good with four minutes left in thesecond quarter when Horace Grant made a 10-foot jumper that sparked a7-0 run and broke a tie at 46.
Washington trailed 58-54 early in the third period when ScottiePippen scored on a tip-in to spark a 14-4 run that featured sevenpoints from B.J. Armstrong. Armstrong made a three-pointer in thatstretch and Jordan added a three-point play after a roundhouse scooparound two defenders.
"Michael, when he's not shooting well or he's getting doubleteamed, he always, for whatever reason, looks to me because he knowsif I can get the shot that's a one-on-one opportunity," Armstrongsaid. "He does a good job of finding us when he has to because he'ssuch a great offensive weapon that he can split the double-team orshoot right over guys."
The Bullets stayed close, narrowing the Bulls' lead to fourpoints with less than six minutes to play and moving to within fivewith 2:34 left.
But Jordan made a pair of free throws, Bill Cartwright added anine-foot baseline jumper and Jordan followed with an 11-footer with44 seconds left that gave the Bulls a 107-96 lead.
Scottie Pippen had 24 points and 13 rebounds and scored sixstraight points for the Bulls in the fourth quarter. Armstrongscored 13 points and added five assists, and Grant scored 12 pointson 6-of-9 shooting.
Washington's Michael Adams scored 10 of his 20 points in thefourth quarter, but the story for Washington was its first-yearplayers. With Harvey Grant out because of shin splints, Gugliottaand fellow rookie Don MacLean (18 points) were the go-to players.
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