They came with the best record in the conference and the likelihood of a spring series to determine who`ll play in the league finals. They came with credentials that established them as the top offensive and defensive team in the league, shooting 52 percent on the season and holding opponents to 44-percent marksmanship.
They came with their tradition and their own Hall of Fame, from Bob Cousy doing the talking behind the microphone to Larry Bird doing the talking on the court. And they came wearing green.
But they left looking green, with equal parts of envy and nausea.
That`s because the Bulls took just about everything the Boston Celtics had in the Stadium Tuesday, from their breath to their legs, in a powerful 129-99 victory.
The win was the Bulls` 10th straight overall and 19th straight at home, giving Chicago a 40-14 record as Boston fell to 40-15.
That meant the Bulls took over the top spot in the NBA`s Eastern Conference in perhaps also establishing themselves as the team to beat in the East with Hall-of-Fame performances from Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, with 39 and 33 points, respectively.
Chicago outshot and outdefended Boston, holding Boston to 25-percent shooting in the first quarter, when the Bulls took a 33-12 lead. The Bulls outhustled the Celtics, forcing them into 13 first-half turnovers and blocking five shots in the half, which ended with the Bulls up 74-48.
The Bulls climbed over Boston to retrieve rebounds and ran the fast break the Celtics once owned, stealing everything from the Celtics but their pride, their memories and their underwear.
And this much-anticipated game of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference was a memory quickly as the Bulls undressed the Celtics in a revealing 21-2 first quarter run that left the Celtics` players with their jaws dropping.
The Bulls led by two points six minutes into the game as Robert Parish worked inside for five points and Larry Bird scored on a fancy screen-roll.
Then the Celtics simply rolled over, though with considerable help from the Bulls.
Pippen slashed in for a basket, and Jordan, who had four steals and two blocks in the quarter along with 10 points, blocked a Parish jumper from behind and then cleared his own missed shot for a score: 16-10.
Kevin Gamble missed a jumper, and Pippen again froze Gamble and Bird and whizzed by for another basket: 18-10.
Jordan then blocked a Reggie Lewis jumper, but he missed on the other end. Ohhhh.
But wait!
Will Perdue, in for foul-plagued Bill Cartwright, stole a Brian Shaw entry passed and hit Pippen for a slam dunk: 20-10.
Gamble`s drive didn`t fall, but John Paxson squeezed a pass into Pippen for a slam and foul: 23-10.
Bird them hit a jumper: 23-12.
But Cliff Levingston, playing for Horace Grant, who went out with a twisted ankle, was fouled on a jumper and hit two free throws: 25-12.
Jordan then stole a Bird pass and missed a jumper, but it was tipped in by Perdue: 27-12.
Levingston blocked a Shaw shot, which didn`t seem very sure, and Jordan drove for a basket: 29-12.
Lewis committed an offensive foul and Jordan hit a jumper: 31-12.
And then Jordan stole the ball from Joe Kleine, Boston`s ninth-mostly forced-turnover of the quarter and cruised in, cradled the ball and put the Celtics to sleep: 33-12.
Perhaps there were extenuating circumstances. The Celtics were without Kevin McHale, who stayed home with a sprained ankle. And Boston hadn`t been home, at least in the Boston Garden, in almost a month, having played eight of their last nine games on the road and one in Hartford, which is considered a home game for Boston.
So they were a little tired and somewhat undermanned.
But man, did the Bulls put them under.
The Bulls pushed their lead to 28 in the second quarter as Jordan scored 17 of 19 Bulls` points in one stretch and had 28 by halftime while Pippen had 19 for a combined 47. The entire Boston team had 48 in the half.
