Jordan Passes Another Scoring Milestone in Victory

A major milestone, a minor injury, a near fight, a basketball to the belly and a decisive victory over the hated New York Knicks.

Yes, it was another memorable night in the life of Michael Jordan at Chicago.

Jordan became the third-leading scorer in NBA history Tuesday night and then almost got into a brawl after Chris Childs threw the ball at him.

After dislocating his right index finger during a fall to the floor, he finished with 29 points and led the Chicago Bulls to a 100-82 victory over the slumping Knicks.

“It’s not a [big] deal to me now,� Jordan said of passing Moses Malone on the career scoring list. “I think that’s something that when I sit back and evaluate my career, yeah, it’ll be a big deal.�

Jordan, the NBA’s nine-time scoring leader, has 27,432 points in 867 games over 13 seasons. Malone scored 27,409 points in 1,045 games during his 19-year career. Jordan’s 31.6-point average is the league’s best ever.

Only Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) had more points than Jordan.

As New York’s Charlie Ward made a three-point basket, Jordan and Childs battled for rebounding position. Jordan elbowed Childs in the back of the head, Childs threw the basketball at Jordan and the two exchanged chest bumps and words. Each was assessed a technical foul, and Childs was ejected because it was his second of the night.

Miami 97, Atlanta 81--Eric Murdock came off the bench to spark Miami in the fourth quarter at Atlanta.

Miami, leading the Atlantic Division, sliced through an unusually tame Atlanta defense to shoot 51.9% from the field, pulling away in the final period after Atlanta cut a 10-point halftime deficit down to 71-66 after the third quarter.

Sacramento 113, Utah 101--Corliss Williamson scored 19 of his career-high 27 points in the second half and Mitch Richmond added 24 points for the Kings at Sacramento.

John Stockton, playing in his second game since recovering from knee surgery, finished with four points and five assists in 20 minutes--the same amount of time he played Monday in his season debut.

Houston 108, San Antonio 78--Clyde Drexler led six players in double figures with 17 points and 11 assists at Houston as the Rockets won their ninth consecutive game.

The Rockets broke from a 19-19 deadlock midway through the first quarter and pulled out to a 60-42 halftime lead.

Phoenix 107, Vancouver 85--Cedric Ceballos scored 21 points in 23 minutes and Antonio McDyess had 20 points and nine rebounds at Phoenix.

Danny Manning added 14 points for the Suns, who are now 6-1 against Western Conference foes.

Seattle 108, Minnesota 99--Gary Payton had 21 points and 11 assists at Minneapolis to lead the SuperSonics to their NBA-record 26th consecutive win over Minnesota.

Seattle’s 26-game streak against Minnesota is the most consecutive times one team has beaten another, surpassing the 25 straight the Timberwolves lost to Phoenix.

Detroit 92, Denver 83--Brian Williams had 21 points and Jerome Williams led a second-quarter comeback with 12 points as the Pistons handed the Nuggets their ninth consecutive road loss.

The Pistons won despite shooting 37.8% from the field. Priest Lauderdale scored a career-high 16 points for the Nuggets.

Washington 120, New Jersey 99--Tracy Murray scored a season-high 26 points and made a career-high seven three-point baskets as the Wizards stayed perfect at their new arena.

Charlotte 95, Toronto 82--Bobby Phills scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter at Toronto, helping the Hornets extend the Raptors’ franchise-record losing streak to 17 games.