Dennis Rodman was back - and just in time for the Chicago Bulls.
It's unlikely that the Bulls would have beaten the Charlotte Hornets 87-82 Saturday night had Rodman not returned from a two-game suspension and grabbed a season-high 23 rebounds.Asked if Chicago would have won without Rodman, coach Phil Jackson said: "I don't see how. He got nine offensive rebounds and we needed every chance we could get out there."
Michael Jordan scored 29 points and Toni Kukoc made a 3-pointer with 1:52 left to break a 78-all tie. The defending NBA champions improved to 20-3 despite shooting only 36 percent.
"We didn't shoot well the whole game," Kukoc said, "so it was nice to knock a couple of important shots down at the end."
Rodman, the NBA's top rebounder for five successive seasons, was suspended by the Bulls for his profanity-laced diatribe against the league and its referees following last Sunday's loss at Toronto.
The Bulls defeated weak Minnesota and New Jersey teams without Rodman but shot around 50 percent in those games. Saturday, the Bulls needed plenty of extra shots to hold off the hard-working Hornets.
"Dennis played extremely well," Jordan said. "And there were some times he could have gone off the deep end but he held his composure."
Rodman declined to comment.
Matt Geiger personally kept Charlotte in the game, scoring 18 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. Glen Rice had 25 points and Anthony Mason added 15 rebounds for the Hornets, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.
"I tried to take advantage of the smaller guy covering me and it worked," said the 7-foot Geiger, who was matched up against 6-7 Scottie Pippen during most of the fourth quarter. "To have a chance to win a game here against the Bulls makes us feel very good. We've come a long way."
Bucks 101, Nets 91
At Milwaukee, Glenn Robinson and Vin Baker scored 27 points apiece as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the New Jersey Nets for their second straight victory.
The Bucks have won four of their last five games, including three of four at home this week. The Nets, who lost their second straight, were led by Robert Pack with 23 points and Kendall Gill with 21.
New Jersey's Jayson Wiliams, the NBA's leading rebounder with a 16.1 average, missed his second straight game with sprained ligaments in his right thumb.
Spurs 106, Mavericks 105
At San Antonio, David Robinson scored 27 points, his most since returning from the injured list, and made the game-winning basket to lead San Antonio past Dallas.
Robinson drove to the basket and gently laid the ball in to put the Spurs ahead 106-105 with 8.5 seconds left in the game.
The Mavericks had a chance to win, but Jason Kidd tripped bringing the ball upcourt. He recovered the ball and got it to George McCloud, whose 3-point attempt bounced off the rim as time expired.
Cavaliers 101, Timberwolves 93
At Minneapolis, Cleveland held Minnesota to 18 percent shooting in the final quarter and rallied to defeat the Timberwolves.
Tyrone Hill tied a season-high with 15 rebounds and Terrell Brandon scored 18 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, as Cleveland won for the second night in a row.
Hawks 106, 76ers 81
At Atlanta, Dikembe Mutombo had his fourth double-double of the season and Mookie Blaylock had his second as Atlanta defeated Philadelphia.
Mutombo had 13 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks, while Blaylock had 17 points and 10 assists in helping the Hawks to their eighth straight home win and fifth in six games overall.
All five Hawks starters scored in double figures.
Knicks 89, Nuggets 82
At New York, Chris Childs scored 20 points and Patrick Ewing had 18 as New York extended its winning streak to six games and sent Denver to its 10th straight loss.
The Knicks' streak is their longest of the season. They improved their record to 15-6 and stayed two games behind Miami in the Atlantic Division.
Denver, which hasn't won since Nov. 26, is having its longest losing streak since 1992-93.
Heat 89, Raptors 88
At Miami, Alonzo Mourning scored 26 points and Tim Hardaway made three free throws in the final 12 seconds as Miami beat Toronto.
It was the 13th win in 14 games for the Heat, who got 15 points apiece from Hardaway and Sasha Danilovic. Miami improved to 13 games over .500 (18-5) for the first time in franchise history.
The Raptors, who were led by Walt Williams' 18 points, have lost all eight of their road games this season. Doug Christie scored 17 points for Toronto, and Carlos Rogers added 15.
Rockets 109, SuperSonics 100
At Seattle, Charles Barkley led a balanced attack with 26 points and 15 rebounds as the Houston Rockets ended a 13-game losing streak against Seattle with a victory over the Sonics.
The Rockets beat Seattle for the first time since March 10, 1994. Seattle had beaten Houston nine straight times in the regular season and four times in the playoffs.
Clyde Drexler added 23 points for the rockets, who have the best record (20-2) in the NBA.
Clippers 106, Kings 94
At Los Angeles, Bill Fitch gained his 900th NBA coaching victory as Terry Dehere scored 16 points and Loy Vaught grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds Saturday night in the Los Angeles Clippers' win over Sacramento.
Fitch, who has accumulated a league-record 1,009 losses since making his debut in 1970-71 with Cleveland, joined Lenny Wilkins, Red Auerbach and Dick Motta as the only coaches to reach the 900-win plateau.