Salt Lake City provided a nice atmosphere for Michael Jordan to come back to. He hasn't been here since the 1993 All-Star Game, and you know what he thought about the town then.

But Friday?"I'm enjoying it," Jordan said after scoring 34 in leading the Chicago Bulls to a 90-85 victory over the Jazz, a win that went almost exactly the way the Bulls wanted it to go.

"It's good to come back," Jordan said. "I haven't been to Utah since the All-Star Game two years ago. Great weather," he said quickly without being asked. "I didn't play golf," Jordan said of his main complaint about Salt Lake in February. "But it was good to get out on the balcony. Real pleasant."

So was Chicago's 10th win of '95-96.

"I think what's good about this team - different from when I came back last year - is these guys understand how I play, and I understand how they play, so we've got chemistry working. It's really unselfish," Jordan said. He noted Friday's contributions from players like Luc Longley, Steve Kerr and Jason Caffey.

"We're making the right plays and playing solid defense to win games. If you can do it on the road, that's a good sign for a good team."

Jordan and Pippen said they're not surprised the Bulls are 10-1. "We've played well enough to be there," Jordan said.

Pippen said he thinks the Bulls can win all seven games on this Western road trip.

"We're starting to get a winning attitude - it doesn't matter where we play," Jordan agreed.

On a long road trip, Chicago wanted to slow Friday's game down, said coach Phil Jackson. Keep it slow, below 90.

"It gives us a great opportunity to win," said Jordan.

The Bulls ran several players at the Jazz's Karl Malone, fouling and hoping to keep him off his game. Malone scored 19 and had eight boards.

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"We did the job the first half," said Pippen, "double-teaming Malone. We ran them out of some of their sets. They never knew where the double-team was coming from."

Part of the game, Jordan guarded the Jazz's John Stockton. He said Stockton fooled him sometimes. "He's so quick, you think of him as a passer all the time; next thing you know, he becomes a scorer, as he did in the second half."

Jordan needed to switch with Kerr on Stockton and said he tried to get to the free throw lane late in the game to slow it down because the altitude had him getting leg-weary.

Jordan and Pippen both got unusual traveling calls from the CBA replacement referees, and Jordan disputed the calls. He said the Bulls had gotten NBA training films on traveling, studied them and practiced the moves. The CBA refs, he said, aren't really watching the moves, they're anticipating them.

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