A victory and a strong personal performance should have been a cause for celebration for San Antonio Spurs forward Sean Elliott.
Despite scoring 23 points Monday night in San Antonio's 105-96 win over New Jersey, Elliott clearly wasn't happy with how his team played."I'm a little bit disappointed because this was an ugly win for us," Elliott said. "It was a victory, but we're definitely not satisified or playing where we think we should be. But I guess it's a lot better than being 0-2."
High expectations led to early disappointment for the Spurs, who squandered a 17-point halftime lead in a season-opening loss to Golden State Friday night.
The Spurs saw the Nets (0-3) whittle a 20-point deficit to five with 38 seconds left before coming away with their first victory.
"I think what this team needs to do is relax," Spurs coach Bob Hill said. "We're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves. A win is a win, but some guys think they've got to play a perfect game."
David Robinson and Chuck Person added 18 points apiece as the Spurs handed New Jersey and rookie coach Butch Beard its third straight loss.
"There's no question this was a big win for us," said Robinson, who became the third Spurs player to score 10,000 points for the Spurs.
"We've been working hard in practice trying to build the team and get confidence. Getting the win was real good for us right now."
Robinson, in his sixth season, reached the 10,000-point mark with a spinning bank shot with 2:31 left in the first quarter.
"This was unexpected and is a great milestone for me," said Robinson, who was saluted by a 45-second standing ovation from Alamodome fans after scoring the basket. "To me, this is something I can show David Jr. someday and tell him that even though I may look old and fat, at one time, I accomplished something."
Robinson struggled through a 4-for-13 shooting night but led San Antonio with 19 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots.
"I didn't shoot the ball well, so I stayed on the boards and tried to do some other things," said Robinson, who grabbed 19 defensive rebounds in the absence of suspended power forward Dennis Rodman. "I tried to make a difference defensively, and without Dennis, I have to stay on the boards."
Person made a difference offensively, hitting four 3-point baskets, including three in the third quarter. His last 3-pointer gave San Antonio its biggest lead at 83-63 with 2:13 left in the third.
"Chuck is a streak shooter," Beard said. "He had the same shots against Golden State, and none of them went in. Tonight, he just hit them against us."
Cold shooting continued to plague the Nets, who are last among NBA teams in field goal percentage. New Jersey hit 34.4 percent from the field in Monday's game, missing its first 12 shots.
"We just had a bad night shooting the ball," Beard said. "In the first half we had bad shot selection.
The poor shooting included an 0-for-6 3-point shooting performance by Nets power forward Derrick Coleman, who spent much of the game firing from outside.
"It definitely wasn't going for me tonight, but I never stopped shooting," said Coleman, who finished 2-for-15 from the field. "I figure you have to shoot your way in and out of a slump."
Bulls 98, 76ers 83
At Chicago, Toni Kukoc scored 19 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, when he and Chicago's other reserves outscored Philadelphia 34-14.
It was the second straight career-high scoring game for Kukoc, who during training camp balked at being a backup. The second-year pro from Croatia had 25 points Saturday against Washington.
Scottie Pippen, the only Chicago starter to play in the final period, scored 22 points. Jeff Malone had 25 points and Clarence Weatherspoon 20 for the 76ers.
Philadelphia coach John Lucas benched struggling Shawn Bradley, starting ex-Bull Scott Williams at center. For one game? For longer? Lucas said he wasn't sure.
The strategy produced some results. In his first start, Williams contributed 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. After fouling out of the first two games and shooting only 1-for-8 from the floor, Bradley managed season-bests of six points and five rebounds in 16 minutes. He shot 2-for-6 but saw two blocked.
"I felt all right about (coming off the bench)," Bradley said. "In the shootaround, (Lucas) had Scott running with the first unit, and right before the game he told me his decision. It didn't bother me, but it makes me want to work extra hard. It takes some of the pressure off me. I see it as more positive motivation than punishment."