After one particularly ugly stretch of basketball during the Bulls’ 100-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday at Continental Airlines Arena, Bulls coach Phil Jackson was livid.
The Bulls had just turned the ball over for the sixth time in their first eight possessions of the second quarter when Jackson finally called a timeout. After yelling at his players about those turnovers for just about the duration of the timeout, he angrily banged his fist on his clipboard to emphasize his point.
It took his players a while, but his words finally sank in. Though they turned the ball over 18 times, accounting for 22 of the Nets’ points, they turned the ball over just once in the final quarter.
That was the key for the Bulls (16-9), who had 13 first-half turnovers.
“We took care of the basketball,” Michael Jordan said. “Up to that point we had 17 turnovers, and in the fourth quarter we only had one and they had five. Those are the types of stats that make the difference in a ballgame. We were able to take care of the basketball in the fourth quarter.”
The main culprit was Toni Kukoc, who had a game-high six turnovers.
“I kidded the team and said we put Toni on the bench so he wouldn’t turn the ball over so much,” Jackson said with a smile. “But there was some validity to it. Our smaller guards were able to pick us up. Steve (Kerr) and Randy (Brown) started that fourth quarter and got some momentum for us.”
On the defensive: The Bulls also held the Nets to just one field goal through the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. That enabled the Bulls to turn a 71-65 deficit at the start of the quarter to a 78-73 advantage after a Kukoc layup with 5 minutes 54 seconds left in the game.
“We got some good steals in the end,” said Kerr, who had a key steal in the fourth quarter. “There were two or three of those steals at the end of the game. Some of those steals looked like they were coming off of guys’ shoes.”
No more Mr. Nice Guy: Right before Saturday’s game, Dennis Rodman, who had a season-high 24 rebounds, said there is a reason he was being low-key this season.
“I used to go out there and complain,” Rodman said. “But the year is not over. Why should I do anything now?”
Rodman then proceeded to pick up only his third technical foul of the season for slapping at New Jersey rookie Keith Van Horn. It came with 1:03 left in the third quarter.
“Dennis has been doing his job,” Jordan said. “I hope you guys (the media) don’t stir him up, because we pretty much have him focused right now. He’s maintaining that focus and doing his job on the basketball court, and he hasn’t been a distraction.”
Then Jordan paused.
“The only reason I can see that he got a technical (Saturday) was Rod Thorn (NBA operations director) was somewhere in the stands watching,” Jordan said.
Words of hope: Rodman said one of the reasons the Bulls now have won four in a row and are playing good basketball is because the team is used to life without Scottie Pippen, who is recovering from preseason foot surgery.
“We’re getting used to the fact that he’s not here,” Rodman said. “This team is more comfortable playing without him now.”
But Rodman said Pippen will be back with the Bulls. Pippen last month demanded a trade.
“He’ll be back–believe me,” Rodman said. “Probably against the Lakers.”
That would be on Feb. 1 at the Great Western Forum.
