Juwan Howard and Chris Webber are supposed to be the one-two punch of the Washington Bullets.
But if they are to make it to the postseason–and a first-round meeting with the Bulls–their odd couple of Gheorghe Muresan and Rod Strickland will have a lot to do with it.
The 7-foot-7-inch Muresan and the 6-3 Strickland were the keys against the Bulls on Thursday, leading the Bullets to an impressive 110-102 victory at USAir Arena.
Washington (38-35) won its sixth straight while trying to keep control of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. The Bulls (63-10) had their eight-game winning streak snapped. They are still three victories away from clinching home-court advantage through the playoffs.
Strickland scored 11 of his team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Bullets stay safely ahead of the Bulls. Strickland also found Muresan (season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds) open several times while handing out a game-high 14 assists.
“Strickland was really a problem for us all night with his penetration,” said Bulls coach Phil Jackson.
That’s how it played out late in the game when the Bulls had cut their deficit to 99-98 with 3 minutes 21 seconds left on a Michael Jordan (34 points) jumper after Jordan blocked a Muresan layup attempt. Strickland blew past Randy Brown–the only Bull successful enough in defending him all night–to score on a layup on the Bullets’ next possession, giving Washington a 101-98 lead.
“We were fortunate to win, and we’ll take it,” said Bullets coach Bernie Bickerstaff. “We will see if we can improve on that.”
