Everybody stood for the national anthem, then they played basketball.
On the court, at least, it was a normal night in the NBA.The night's best game was at Seattle, where the SuperSonics scored the final seven points of the game and defeated the Orlando Magic 100-99 in a matchup of division leaders.
With the victory, Seattle became the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot.
The Sonics made their comeback without floor leader Gary Payton, who was ejected with 8:46 left in the game for head-butting Joe Wolf after the two collided and went face-to-face in the lane.
Shaquille O'Neal's putback gave the Magic a 99-93 lead with 49.4 seconds left. Sam Perkins made a 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left, making it 99-96.
After Nick Anderson's inbounds pass was stolen by Perkins, Hersey Hawkins made a layup with 34.9 seconds left. Dennis Scott missed a running shot from the lane and Eric Snow fed Detlef Schrempf for a 17-footer with 14.7 seconds left. Anderson then missed a jumper from the corner as time expired.
Payton led the Sonics with 23 points and Schrempf added 20.
Bulls 103, Bullets 86
The bad news for the Bulls came before the game when they learned that Scottie Pippen will miss 10-14 days with a variety of injuries.
Toni Kukoc replaced him in the starting lineup, and the Bulls didn't miss a beat, improving to 31-0 at home. They can tie Orlando's mark Friday against the Nuggets, one of the seven teams to beat them this season.
Michael Jordan scored 37 points and Kukoc and Luc Longley each had 16. Chicago broke open the game in the third quarter as Jordan had 18 points and the Bulls outscored the Bullets 34-22 to take an 18-point lead.
Pistons 118, Suns 115
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Grant Hill had 18 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists and Detroit overcame a season-high 45 points from Charles Barkley.
Detroit, which has won seven of eight, stayed one game behind New York in the race for the Eastern Conference's fourth playoff seeding. Phoenix, which has lost four of five, dropped a game below .500.
Knicks 106, Timberwolves 82
At Minneapolis, the Knicks won their second in a row under new coach Jeff Van Gundy.
Patrick Ewing scored 11 of his 21 points in the first five minutes of the second half when the Knicks broke the game open.
Kings 104, Bucks 95
At Sacramento, Mitch Richmond scored 25 points, Brian Grant had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Tyus Edney had 19 points off the bench and reserve Michael Smith contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Kings won their third in a row after losing 17 of 18. The loss was the fifth straight and 10th in the last 11 games for Milwaukee.
Celtics 110, 76ers 100
At Boston, Todd Day scored 23 points, Rick Fox 21 and David Wesley 20, and the Celtics scored 14 of the game's final 17 points.