The Stars Come Out in Chicago, and It’s Lights Out for Rockets

Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman against Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley.

No contest.

In the battle of the NBA elite, the Chicago Bulls proved to have a better superstar trio than the Houston Rockets and won decisively, 110-86, at Chicago.

“We’re confident we can beat them should we meet them in June,” Jordan said.

The defending champion Bulls have a NBA-best 31-4 record, have won 14 of their last 15 games, and are 10-0 at home.

The Rockets (28-10) came in with an NBA-best 15-2 road record, but had to endure their most decisive loss of the season.

Jordan, Pippen and Rodman combined got the best of Olajuwon, Drexler and Barkley in points (57-44), rebounds (31-21), and assists (18-9).

Jordan scored 32 points, Pippen had 17 and Rodman had 18 rebounds.

Olajuwon scored 29 points, but missed several layups and short jump shots. Drexler had seven points on three-for-11 shooting from the field. And Barkley matched low-scoring Rodman with eight points.

“In the second quarter, I heard Barkley tell Dennis that it was going to be a long night,” Chicago guard Steve Kerr said.

Detroit 87, Utah 77--Grant Hill had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the Pistons ended a nine-game losing streak to the Jazz at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Detroit had not beaten the Jazz since Nov. 11, 1991, when Isiah Thomas was a Piston point guard instead of the Toronto Raptors’ president. He scored 44 points against John Stockton that night.

The Jazz has lost eight in the row on the road and six of seven overall.

OTHER GAMES

Steve Smith scored six points in the final 1:38 of overtime to lead Atlanta to its third consecutive overtime win, an 87-82 victory over San Antonio. The Hawks extended their home winning streak to 13 games. . . . Patrick Ewing scored 30 points to lead New York past Boston, 112-99. John Starks had 14 points in the fourth quarter, and rookie John Wallace had a season-high 19. The Knicks won their 12th home game in a row and their 17th straight against Boston, the longest streak by a Celtic opponent. . . . Rod Strickland, who scored 20 points, had three jump shots that stopped a Cleveland comeback, as Washington defeated Cleveland, 98-85, at Cleveland. . . . George McCloud scored seven points in the final 1:03, and Dallas defeated Denver, 104-99, at Dallas. . . . Detlef Schrempf had 18 points and 12 assists, and Seattle defeated Indiana, 92-82, at Seattle. . . . Mitch Richmond scored 32 points and Sacramento earned its first road victory in more than month, edging Vancouver, 109-101, at Vancouver. Grizzly rookie Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 37 points, most ever for him and most ever for a Grizzly.