Full Game: Jordan’s 53-Point Masterpiece & 24k Milestone | Bulls vs Pistons (March 7, 1996)

Full Game: Jordan’s 53-Point Masterpiece & 24k Milestone | Bulls vs Pistons (March 7, 1996)

[Music] The bull run continues. The Chicago Bulls stampede through the league has left all the others behind and has them running hard at the 72 Lakers regular season record for win. And they have been absolutely unbeatable at home, cutting off 29 victories, not a loss, before the roaring faithful at the United Center. The Pistons will try to put an end to that tonight. They bring a four-game winning streak to Chicago and they bring Grant Hill playing more like a superstar with each succeeding game. Coming at you, another Piston War with the Bulls. And you have a chance to play Piston trivia, too, for a trip to Las Vegas or a Myrtle Beach Golf vacation. Stay tuned for all the excitement. [Applause] Beachwood Age, the King of Beers, proudly presents Detroit Pistons basketball. A [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] against the foul line up and under the [Music] heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Live from the United Center in Chicago, it’s the Pistons and the Chicago Bulls. Good evening everybody and welcome to another exciting night of NBA basketball. George Blaha with number seven Kelly Trapa at the United Center. tough place for the Pistons to play. Well, I’m not sure there’s ever a good time to come into this building, George. But I’ll tell you what, the Pistons have to be happy with the way they’re playing. So, maybe this is the best time to come in here when they’re feeling confident. Let’s take a look now at what’s going so well for the Pistons. They’re now plus six on 500. You like that? How about four in a row? Six out of seven and 10 of 14. However, this is their fifth game in seven days and they have become road warriors. This will be their eighth road game in their last nine. [Applause] The Bulls absolutely terrific in here, but the Pistons at least have gotten used to the road and I think Grant Hill has really helped. Well, Grant Hill is playing super basketball. I’m not sure he can get any better than what he’s doing right now. You see the last three games. I mean, those are Oscar Robertson type numbers, almost averaging a triple double over three games. He hasn’t had time to figure out that he’s really tired. And let’s not hope he wakes up tonight. Exactly. And you know who played great basketball in Toronto? A guy who’s been rock steady for this franchise for so many seasons. Joe Dumar’s had 15 of those 19 and five of those six assists in the second half, including all five of those triples. Joe D will have to step up big tonight, too. As for the Bulls, I don’t know what you can say about these guys. 53 and six really says it all. You run out of adjectives, George. This team is just doing everything right. Running on all cylinders. They score. They play defense. They have superstar players. And they have a big crowd behind him. I think they’re going to get the record. I think they can’t be beat. And they have, of course, his airness at the top of the list. He’s back and he’s all the way back averaging better than 30, more than six boards, better than four and a half assists. And he still bothers you on defense, too, with better than two steals. Scotty Pippen, one of the best all-around players in basketball and one of the best rebounders ever in the worm, Dennis Rodman. Well, Dennis makes him go when he gets on the board and gets his annex going. You know, the other two guys are definitely going to be behind him. One’s probably an all-star uh MVP candidate. The other one probably all world candidate, Michael Jordan. We’ll have the starting lineups and all the action from Chicago for you in just a moment right here on the Pistons Television Network. [Music] Pistons basketball is brought to you by Budweiser, official sponsor of the 1996 Olympic Summer Games. This Buds for you. Chrysler and the allnew Chrysler Town and Country minivan. The ultimate Dunhams. Get in the game with Dunhams, the Midwest’s largest sports store with 41 Michigan locations. Cali Springfield and your local Cali dealer, Balty, Michigan National Bank. Find out how to save more with rate plus banking. Dial 1800 MNP. It’s big. And by Bill Square, they’ll get you squared away at the United Center in Chicago. Better than 24,000 to watch the Pistons and the Bulls tonight. Can the Pistons hand this team their first homecourt loss? Michael Jordan hopes not. Let’s check the starting lineups now. First for Michael’s team at the forward spots. Long time Piston favorite Dennis Rodman [Music] and Scotty Pippen. Luke Longley at 72 and 292 in the middle. Michael and Ron Harper. A pair of six sixes in the back court for Phil Jackson. Pretty gaudy record there for Phil. For the Pistons tonight in Chicago, Brad Hill and Otis Thorp. I tell you what, doesn’t get much better than those two forwards. Don Reed in the middle, Joe D and Allen Houston. A great pair in the back court too for Doug Collins. Kelly Trapucas keys to winning coming up from Chicago in a moment on the Pistons television network. [Music] Defend for 48 minutes. You never can let up against this team. They have a powerful explosive offense obviously with Pippen and Jordan. So you must not get any lacadasical extended periods of time. full 48 minutes of def defense. Two, protect the three-point line. This team leads the league in three-point shooting. Steve Kerr, Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen, they all can hit the three-point shot. Got to get out and play those people. And lastly, control the tempo and spread the floor. It’s got to be a Pistons type tempo. Try to keep it under 100. I think offensively on their end, they’ve got to widen that bull defense. Try to get to the lane. If that’s clogged out, kick it out for the jump shot. they can get those things going. Maybe, just maybe, they have a chance tonight. Well, they’ve never been playing better since the glory days. Those are the keys to winning from KT for Michigan National Bank. Find out how to save more with rate plus banking. Dial 1800, call MnB. It’s big. And there are some former bad boys from those glory days now wearing Bulls uniforms. Dennis Rodman of course. James Edwards who played some back on the injured list. I’ll bet he’ll be on the playoff roster. And John Sally hoping he stays on the roster. He can help him. Ladies and gentlemen, so can he. Not a bad guy to start any team with. What a talent, man. Scotty Pippen’s not exactly chop liver either. No, they talk about Scotty Pippen. I think he’s got a legitimate shot this year to win the MVP. I think I’d vote for him. He might be He might be the best all-around player in this league. And Michael might agree to that. Doug Collins had them both when they were kids. Well, Doug was across the street in the parking lot where used to be the old stadium. So, he’s not used to this beautiful new building they got here, but uh I know he’d like to get his first win in this building and stop that long bull streak. Dennis Rodman the difference at the Palace as the Pistons fell in overtime. He and Tony Cuckoo with the long three. The officials, by the way, Jack Nestley Jones and Don Vaden. And the Bulls and the home whites go to work. Pippen in a hurry. It’s wide. Jordan gets it back against Allen Houston. The step back goes for Michael Jordan. It’s a scary thought when those two guys start out the game by one taking a three, other one a long jump shot cuz you know what they can do going to the rim. Grant against Pippen. Great matchup there. Otis wants it inside. Now comes the screen for Joe. Four on the clock for Grant Hill. Now two in a hurry. Got it up in time. It’s off the iron to Long. Chicago with Pippen missing the finger all but getting it back. The pump fake. Uh-uh. And Otis has it sealed off and pulls the rebound down. Boy, a great job by Grant out of position but still made Scotty change his shot and that caused the miss. Bounced inside to Don Reed. Worm trying to block the dunk but fouled him. Well, Don Reed once again makes a smart play rolling to the hole. You’ll get a look in the right spot. Goes up strong and hard against Dennis. Looked like a pretty good block. But you know what, George, with Dennis’s personality, he knows he’s a marked man. I think the Bulls know, too. They’ve got to try to get on the referee’s side because if anything happens involving Dennis Robin, usually it goes against them. Exactly. As it did in their most recent ball game here against Milwaukee on Tuesday. Right. And that last play, as we saw, looked like a pretty clean block by the worm. But we’ve seen him do it often enough to know that it’s no big deal for Demis to stop a slam. And I thought it was interesting that John Sally’s comments in the pregame about how hard he’s working. He’s a changed man, but he said as far as his basketball priorities are 2-2 in Chicago. Harper with the long gun. Grant Hill tipped it away from Pippen but out of bounds. Grant very active and he’s done it all for this team. This team gets almost 45 rebounds a game thanks a lot to Dennis Rodman. They got to keep him off the board. Luke Longley hits. It’s 42 Bulls. Longley battling a lot of injuries this year trying to keep him healthy. He’s a key though. They got to feed him a bone every once in a while. Has a little uh some moves down low. Don Reed fumbling the pass. He stumbles and the ball’s out of bounds to the Bulls. 10 and 17 to play in the first. 4-2 Chicago. We’re just underway. [Music] Miss Rodman finds Harper with the shot clock at 10. Jordan against Houston. Lips it up and in. Well, oh, that was sweet. What can you say? I don’t think there’s too many people that can do that. And I think that down to one mainly him. Otis against Longley. Backs down. Two time forces. No. Scraped off the iron. Saved by Otis. Topside. Allen. New clock for the Pistons. Knocked down and a foul. Harper with a foul. Bulls with a quick two team fouls. Pistons without one. Fresh 24 Grant Hill who will trigger. You want like to get off to a good start, not get behind early. This is tough enough to come back. Oh, it’s all the way to the rim and laid it in. Our game brought to you in part by the Detroit News. Catch our game details in tomorrow’s super Detroit News sports section. Fly calls for it. They thought it lays it in. Touch foul called on Otis. Well, the Pistons, as you know, like to front the post. Bulls do a nice job. They clear out the backside. You see no weak side help. Someone’s got to tell Otis that there is no help behind him. Otherwise, he can’t front in that situation. He’s got to play behind. It’ll get burned when they do that. Longley makes it 94 Chicago. Pistons down five in the early going. Grant Hill finds Houston against Harper. Bulls like the pressure. They want to make use that clock. Joe against Jordan. Notice screens. The bounce back to OT. The baseline gun won’t go. rebound long way. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Michael Jordan off the heel. Grant Hill tips it away from Dennis Robin and saves it or does he? No, he stepped out. Good hustle play. Grant had to jump over the top of Dennis Rodman to get a piece of that ball. Nonetheless, goes in the front row, but he’s all right. 848 to play in the first. Goes by five. Jordan double clutches. Don Reed gets there and draws the foul. There you see another great athletic move. What he does to a double team. Excuse me. If you don’t make that double team hard and you see Otis Thorp step out. He’s got to come closer. He can’t let Michael split him as he did there. Don Reed, a nice aggressive move, but once his airness is airborne, tough to stop. Michael Jordan makes. He has five 33 on Tuesday against the Bucks. 21 of them in the very first quarter. Well, just another routine night for Michael. Get off to a good first quarter start. Then he feels like they can rest the last three quarters. Let Scotty do something. Split the pair there. Pistons down six. Grant feeds Otis. Allen. Houston. Gunning. Got it. Hell squared up, knocked it down. Yeah, good screen down along the baseline to free him up. Jordan against him. Pippen with Don Reed in the corner. Top side of Harper. Shot clock nine for Jordan. Michael with three on the clock. Harper for three. Won’t go through. Grant Hill rips the rebound away from Pippen. Great feed driving, dunking Don Reed. Now that’s why Don Reed’s in the ball game. Loves to run the court and does it well. Pistons down just a deuce now. 108. 748 to play in the first against Joe D. And a 3second call on Pippen called by Don Vaden. [Applause] Get a look at that last break. Grant Hill comes up with the rebound. You see Don Reed on the right side of your screen. Nobody catches up. Easy pass in for the flush. Won’s down a deuce. Seven and a half to play in the first. [Music] Grant works. Pippen the finger all in and out. And it’s Bull’s ball. Longley hit Otis and hit the ball. Yeah, Otis had pretty good position there. Pistons are arguing about that call. That was a That was not the proper call. Joe D and Grant Hill both letting Don Bait know about it. Might have had possession of then knocked away at the last minute. Unfortunate break. Gi up to Michael left it short. Never leave those ps short, do you, Kelly? They won’t go in 90% of the time. 100% maybe. Uh-oh. He won’t leave this one short. Little double clutch on the jam. And it’s 128 Bulls. Michael was seven. Well, for you kids at home, that’s how they make those posters that you buy in the stores. They wait for Michael to get on a breakaway and get their cameras ready. Click, click, click. Otis wants it against Lofty. Jordan thinking about a double team. Here’s the hook. Short. It should have been a foul. He definitely got bumped. [Applause] Rodman to Jordan. Harper deep against Joe. The clock’s at 15. [Applause] Michael Jordan with a fall away. His for the rebound. Good bounce on the outlet to Grant Hill. Joe D over Harper. Three-point gunning. It rims out to Reed. Joe will get it back. This one’s short. Dennis Rodman rebound. Oh, the outlet knocked out of bounds by Don Reed. Good hustle there. Timeout here was 604 to play in the first. It is 128 Bulls on the Pistons television network. [Music] [Applause] Friday, Cleveland comes in and Sunday against the Denver Nuggets featuring DMBBE Matumbo. You get four tickets, four soft drinks, four hot dogs, popcorn and t-shirts, 122 bucks worth for just 59. Out of the timeout, Pippen with a miss. Don Reed to Joe D. Pistons trail by four. Just over halfway through the first. Flips deep to Grant. Clock at 12 against Pippen. [Applause] And a foul. Scotty Pippen with his first. Scotty Pippen his first. Here we go. What I talked about where they make the posters from Michael Jordan all by himself. And that was an easy dunk for Michael. Pistons with a new clock on the Pippen foul. The Bulls third. Allen Houston for three and it’s through. That was man side. I need Allen to keep Michael occupied out there. Make him play some defense. Maybe he’ll get a little tired. Chicago by one. Jordan pass for Pippa. Nearly got away. Wley with 12 on the clock. Pulls it. over the shoulder and got away with it. Well, Luke showing some offense early tonight. He gets inside that pain, he can be uh tough to handle. Joe against Michael. [Applause] Grant Hill leaning, gunning, getting rims away, tapped away from Rodman by Reed, but Harper’s got it. Chicago by three. 1411. [Applause] [Music] Michael Jordan over Alen Houston. He hits it. 1611 Chicago. Michael likes to get his outside game going early in a ball game. He feels if he gets a defense out on him later in the game, he’ll go by him. Offensive foul block for Grant Hill forced him to push over offensive foul. Tffy Auto Service Center is your place for breaks because Tffy certified technicians specialize in all car truck and van break. When you take your car to Ty, you’re doing the right thing. This is what happened. The last call, they’re going to see Grant Hill try to go back door. He pushes Harper in the back there and that’s what they catch. The offensive foul. Bulls up five and with it. [Applause] 408 to play in the first. Longley by himself buries it. Look Longley show. Longley with nine. He and Michael with all the Bulls points. Who says it’s just Scotty Pippen and Michael Jordan. Allan Houston against Harper. Otis against Longley. Swatted by Luke, but he bumped him first. Bulls on a 6-0 run. Otis trying to stop that at the stripe. We’ll get a look at it. Otis tries to get a pump fake. Lonely does a pretty good job of keeping his position. Swats it away, but before that got a piece of OT. [Applause] Well, I think we’re all square now. I thought he got fouled earlier in the game down low. Didn’t call it. Maybe that one should have been the other way, but let’s just call it square. Otis at the line. Makes twice. The Pistons trail by five. OT with four right now. They got to find a way to stop Luke Longley. Grant Hill tips it out of bounds off Jordan. Jack Nice right there to make the call for Doug Collinsstein. You’re not going to change his mind. Not even Michael. [Applause] Pistons with three turnovers. Bulls now with two. Three and a half to play in the first. Allen Houston sets up Joe to Otis. Grant takes up the should knocked away by Jordan. The steal to Scotty Pippen. A great reaching by Michael Dennis Rodman pushed even better pass. [Applause] [Music] Here’s the defense by Michael Grant goes in. Look at him reach in and deflect that ball. Goes down the other end and that’s where Dennis gets pushed from behind on little Rob pass. Worm at the line. Terry Mills has checked in for Otis. We got two shots. [Applause] Whoops. Is right. A lot of air time on that. Nothing but oxygen. There’s Terry Mills. The Pistons instant heat. [Music] Warm ejecting the third on Tuesday. Had nine rebounds. Dennis is holding up his hands like he needs glasses, which is which is good. He’s going to try with his eyes closed now. Second one is short. He saves it. The crowd loves it. The three-point gun. He tempted to coach who’s come off the bench. I think he missed it on purpose to get the rebound. Bulls get another crack at it. [Music] Pimp misses the triple. Don Reed with good position right now. Pistons are four against five with Grant Hill catching up. Eyes into your picture and with the basketball. Two and 40 left in the first. [Applause] Grant lost it to Pippen. Jordan and we’ll get timeout with two and 35 to play in the first. Grant picked up his second foul. It’s a silly one. 1813 Bulls on the Pistons television network. [Music] Don’t miss a chance to see Grant Hill against Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks the last time this season. It all starts at 7:30 at the Palace. To order your tickets, call during our game tonight at 810 3770100. Saturday night at the Palace, a shootout. And later tonight, trivia for a chance for a Vegas stay at the Imperial Palace for a Myrtle Beach Golf Vacation. [Music] Fifth two time Harper deep through the foul. They have to take Grant out of the game with two fouls picking up. That last one before a timeout really was a silly foul and one that uh he’s frustrated, I’m sure. Yeah, Michael did a nice job. Pressure defense caused a turnover, but Grant made the mistake going after an almost, as you said, George, a frustration foul that causes him to sit on the bench. Ron Hart makes Ratliff for Don Reed. He’ll give you some energy as did Don. Pistons four for 12, Chicago 8 for9. Pistons with three more turnovers. Five to two. Come on. I got it. I got it. Dehjo rips the rebound away from Michael Curry who would replace Grant. Chicago, despite all this, only up six. And right now, they’re surviving. The Pistons are need to get going. There are the shooting percentages. Allen from downtown. Jordan skies for the rebound. [Music] Scotty Pippen against Joe. Blind dish to Harper for the dunk. Well, this team is as good a passing team in the league. And when you double team, particularly away from the basket, they’ll make you pay as they did that time. Pippen underneath to Harper. Minute and a half to play in the first. 2113 Chicago. Alan Houston got a Theo screen. Five on the shot clock. Gary Mills with two on the clock. Turns, fires. No. Jordan with another board. Chicago by eight. And they have it. A minute and 10 to play in the first. Harper flips up the finger roll and fills it. Right now they’re just playing with a lot more energy and emotion than the Pistons. You see just look a little step quicker. Yes. Step faster to the basketball up and down the court. And we’re stagnant offensively, not doing a thing. Joe D against Jordan. [Applause] And he drew the foul. Michael Jordan bought the fake. A smart play by Joe Dumars. If that was somebody else, they might have called an offensive foul. But no matter if it’s against Michael when you got a guy like Joe Dumar’s out there making that move. Kind of hard not to call it for him. Here’s some an experienced play. Joe gets him up in the air. He’ll lean in a little bit which for a veteran is allowed. Smart play by Joe Dumar. That’s called an Artha Franklin. Respect. Dallas comes in Saturday. The first 4,000 16 and under get a Grant Hill jersey from Eagle and Farmer Jack. When the Cavs come in next Friday, the first 10,000 get a travel mug from Everett ready. Steve Kerr checks in. He can shoot it. J Bler has come off the Bulls bench. Joe De makes twice. Pistons trail it 2315. Busher is no no sham from the three-point line as well. He’s he’s over 43%. Kerr over 51%. Michael misses the triple and it’s out of bounds with 32.3 to play in the first. What kind of numbers are those? Steve Kerr shooting better from three-point line. 50 almost 52 and just over 50 from the two-point line. You know where he’s comfortable at. Uhhuh. Doug Collins up to call the Piston play. going to get comfortable on offense this trip. Seems like they get into their offense a little late as well. You see the shot clock already down to eight before they’re starting their play. Terry Mills can’t hold it. 12.3 to play in the first and they are a step slow in Chicago so far. Right now afford to be even a half a step slow against the Bulls. Pimp’s back. Not as good as they play. [Applause] Lou Rose is going to check in for the Pistons. Hug’s going to try a number of things right now. He’s just looking for some kind of rhythm, somebody to induce some kind of spark or some energy into the lineup either defensively or offensively. Blue match up against coach to the rim. Theo Ratlas got it. Allen Houston from midcourt. Oh, he got iron. No net after one. It’s 2315 Chicago on the Pistons television network. [Music] Only one network can do it justice. Don’t miss the action when a former cop teams up with his exartner to fight crime with a vengeance in Swift Justice. A new series starting Wednesday night at 9 right here on UPN50. Viewer discretion is advised. And join America’s Premier High School Allstars April the 14th. It’s the 4th annual Adidas Magic’s Round Ball Classic presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. For tickets, call during our broadcast tonight at 8103770100 or visit the Palace Box office or any ticket master center. Numbers through one. 27% shooting for the Pistons. That says it all. They’re lucky the Bulls are over seven from three-point range. Pistons with six turnovers. That’s the reason probably between that and the shooting why they’re down eight. Barry Mills back out there against Cuck Coach. Four on the clock. Turns him back baseline and he’s grabbed and fouled. The shot clock had wound down to two. They got Steve Cerr instead of Tony. Tony Coo announced over the last quick team foul goes to the Bulls. Ker Pippen Coo Bushler and Jordan for Chicago. Terry Mills top side to Grant who’s back gets around Pippen sets up Michael Curry and he makes there you see what the Pistons need that offensive set showed some energy good quick passing drive to the hole kick it out open jump shot you see the pace that they had on that half court set six-point ball game and a whistle coaches will say they ran that with a purpose they haven’t had many of Joe Dumar’s he was held. He has called for the grab though and he gets his first two clock for the Bulls. Whistler by himself. Off the heel to Joe. Up the middle he comes against Kerr [Applause] [Music] to the baseline. Lost it. Want to be a Pistons honorary ball boy or ball girl? Pick up a loaf of wholesome or Schaer soft and good bread for details. Three Pistons collectors cards inside every bag. Pistons now with five turnovers to two-point [Applause] ball game in seven-point differential of turnover. Go out. Dean with six on the clock. Double touchdown off the glass. Oh, and he had a call glass that time. It looked like he was hitting the tin backboard. He hit that hard. We used to play in those backboards down at the Jersey Shore. You could hit it 100 miles an hour. If you knew where the dents were, he’d go right in. Joe must have known something there. DB Cer misfires to Dennis Roco. Cuko fakes the Trey, shovels to Bush. Warren rebounds again. Coach misses. They can’t buy a three-point basket. [Applause] 25. Here’s Grant Hill ripping the net. Grant’s first hoop tonight. When things aren’t going well, you hope you have nights where you can just hang in somehow. And they have and maybe let them make some mistakes until you get find the right gear, so to speak. 2521 Pistons trail by just four. They’re hanging right now. Curry inside and he drew the contact and the foul. Jack De calls it up field. Great play by Steve Cerr that time. He knew he was going in there amongst the Giants and was going to get a shot clock, but you’re going to get a look when he gets his basketball. Watch him where what he does with his body. See, he initiates the contact on Theo Ratliff. Gets his body between he and the basket or the ball in the basket, I should say. Initiating the contact. So when they bump refle [Applause] behind the line has 88 triples and he’s only second in the league. Jordan’s backler. How can you be second in the league with a three-point field goal percentage of almost 52%. [Applause] Well, he missed one there. How about that, Mr. Legler? That’s I was going to say, well, I know who the new number one is. Is a guy that won the three-point shooting contest. Terry Mills for three and it’s through. There’s one sweet shooter there. He’s not bad from behind the stripe as well. Best big man shooter anywhere. Pistons get a triple and they’re down just a deuce. 26-24. Well, don’t look at the stat sheet because it’s lying right now. Pistons are in the ball game. 840 left in the half. Jordan inside for Pitman. They gang up, slap it back to Michael. Clock is at eight. Grant’s got to be careful. He has two fouls. Gordon with a fall away and he fills it. You see how patient he is. They run guys at him. They back off. He doesn’t lose his composure and at the last minute he throws a dagger in you. 15 on the clock. Grant Hill fire. No. Theo tried to keep it alive and he’s picked up his second foul. You still got to like the effort. They’re going to have to get this effort all night long. Keeping up with Dennis Rodman on the boards. You can’t back down from him. Theo Ratliff hustling picks up the foul. Otis Thorp’s about to come back. Coach, Pippen, Jordan, Cerr, and Rodman out there for the ball. Coach from the corner missed along. Got the Grant. That doesn’t seem to be their shot tonight. 0 for 10. Playing the passing lane making the fight as coach to Pippen lay it there in Scotty Pippen’s first hoop. Well, Tony Cooach steps in a passing lane and we talked about this team being a good passing team, but they also finish very well. And who wouldn’t with players like Pippen and Jordan? Lindsay Hunter against her gives to Grant. Pistons trail by six. 30-24. Bulls in Chicago. Terry Mills against two coach and Paul the double dribble. Allan Houston’s back for Curry. Otis for Theo Curry. Get a look. Terry one-on-one the last minute. He tries to pass this. Actually, they do touch it. That’s what Terry was arguing about. That replay shows he was correct. We can see it from our angle. Pippen gets to the lane, hits the fall away and the Bulls on that turnover score again. They have 13 points off turnovers. The Pistons with none. Grant to the rim. Missed the hook on the run to Cuckoo. Pman shovels to Kerr. Look out. Missed the triple. Bullet. Kerr almost had a sid spin on that three-point shot. I don’t think that’s his normal shot, but they’re off for 11. This is going to ruin their percentage. They came in first in the league and almost 42% from back there. Terry Mills for three. Well, that one looked like it was down. Back it comes to Grant Hill. Allen Houston inside. Curr fires it. Rims away. Tapped by Otis, though. Off it comes to CO. Tough break for the Pistons. Bulls ball. They lead 32-24. 6 and 12 to play in the half. [Applause] And a showdown of Dennis Rodman called on Otis Thor. Time out. 6 and 10 till halftime. Chicago leads by eight on the Pistons television network. 3224 Bulls 6 and 10 to play in the half. And the Dream Teamers play the Palace on the 6th of July. Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway and Shaq and the rest against that USA select team of college stars. Order your tickets at 8103770100 during our game tonight. That’s a once- ina-lifetime chance. The 6th of July at the Palace. On the last play, Otis and Dennis get tangled up a little bit. Little shove there by Otis. Now watch when he comes back to post up. Otis gives him a little shove and Dennis competing for an Academy Award. Down he goes. Chicago still scoreless from behind the three-point line. Michael Jordan runs it up and in. Thorp down with his three fouls and it’s 3424 Chicago Grant losing a hand against Cougar. [Applause] [Music] Houston with a jump stop. Dish to Don Reed. Couldn’t finish it. Michael Jordan with his fourth rebound. [Applause] Cukco. They playing another long gun. Somehow Dennis Rodman rebound and draws a foul and draws a cheer. He’s happy with himself. Dennis working hard against Don Reed. Tries to go up here. Definitely contact and he wants to throw a couple of fists but not in anger but towards the crowd for appreciation and hell. Heck, he even made a uh free throw. Going back to the eyes open split the pair. Chicago by 11. Allen Houston for three. Don Reed gets it back. Allen again. Don’t let him try it twice. String music for Allen Houston. 3527. The triple cuts it back to eight. Jordan against him. [Applause] Barry Mills two times. They squeeze the trap. Force the miss. Out of the pack comes Alan Houston. Got numbers. Don Reed. Nice dish to Lindsay from the corner. Michael Jordan over everybody with a rebound. His fifth board. Dennis Robin with only six. Here’s his three-point gun. He air messes it out of bounds. Well, nobody else has made one for him, so you can’t get too upset at him. Phil Jackson says, “Hey, I got to live with that. As long as he rebounds, he can take a three every once in a while. Four and a half to play in the half. Chicago 35 and the Pistons 27. Grant double team. Terry Mills for three. That one’s through. The Pistons with another triple. They have five triples tonight to stay close enough. It’s 3530. Doug Collins team trailing by five at the United Center in Chicago. Both teams team starting to look like the Dallas Mavericks and putting up three-point shots. Dick Mestine’s all a sudden become the talk of the town. Longway. Oh, got a lot of help from the rack. 37 to 30. Longley with 11. Five for five from the floor. Terry Mills again. Triples again. Nine for Terry. He has three triples and the Pistons are within four. Three and 40 to play in the half. Longley calls for it against Terry. Game sweeps up the hook way short. Terry Mills to Grant. Dennis Rodman on the floor hanging on. jump. And we’re going to get a Piston loose ball foul. Double foul. 41 and 91. Double foul. Jump it up. And we get a double foul. Mark West has just come on. There you go. And Dennis Rockman. Yeah, George. Right at the bottom of our last picture there. You saw Mark and Dennis almost tangled up. And when Dennis works that hard, you also have to give the opponent as much respect. He’s going to hold and grab and claw his way. You’ve got to be able to do that to him as well. That time the referee felt give each one a jump ball. Long west [Applause] basketball out of bounds and it belongs to the Bulls. Grant Hill touched it last. That was close, Kelly. I don’t want to I don’t want to get anywhere near I don’t want Scotty sitting in my lap. replaces Dennis Rodman. Dennis Rodman sits down for the Bulls. Hey, the Pistons are within four. Got a hold down the Ford here for the last three and a half of the half. Pippen from the top. Another miss Trey. And this has got to be a Chicago loose ball foul. It’s going to be Lonely over the B. It is Longley’s second timeout taken by the Pistons. Doug Collins calls it 3 and21 to play in the half. 3733 Chicago on the Pistons television network. [Music] Sunday night, we’ll put sports in your face when the Wings travel to Winnipeg to take on team leaders Keith Kachchuck and Edchek and the rest of the Winnipeg Jets. Don’t miss the action Sunday night starting at 7:30 right here on UPN50. Order a new triple decker pizza from Pizza Hut between now and March 10th. Ask for a coupon good for one free ticket. One of the three special Pistons games when you buy a ticket. Details of participating Pizza Hut locations in the Detroit area. I’m not going to stand by what I say, but I think it’s Keith Kachuk. Not going to stand by it. I just have a feeling. All right. One thing we do know for sure, it’s a 9-2 Piston run in the last 250. Yeah, we know we’re in Chicago Stadium and the Pistons or Bulls are battling it out in a strange, strange ball game. Pistons hanging around. Down just four. Grant Hill has scored just two. Three to play in the half. Grant for three and it’s through. Five for Grant Hill now and his second three all year. We only had four in the first half and Toronto put 27 up in the second half. Don’t look now, but the Pistons are within one. That’s why they played 48. Harper for three. Good position for Grant Hill and a tough rebound. They have not made a three-point basket. 0 for 14. And this is the number one three-point shooting team in the league. Harry Mills gives to Grant inside for Mark West over Longley. Tough break off the heel to Jordan. Chicago up one and with it. Two and 20 to play in the half. Joe De’s back with Grant, Terry Mills, Alan Houston, and Mark West. Pimp flips it top side. Knocked away by Terry Mills with the clock at nine. Out of bounds Bulls two and 10 to play in the half. At the half, Piston President Tom Wilson on the team. Offse plans and playoff hopes on fast break for Dunham. The turn and gun goes for Michael Jordan. Tough shot to stop. Didn’t put the ball on the floor. Just turned around and fired it in Allen Houston’s face with a little fade away. Nothing but net. 3936 Chicago. Crossover for Grant. Sets up Joe from the corner for three. Won’t go through. Jordan bumped by Grant. That’s number three. And he knows it too. Like to have it back. Two fouls he’s picked up from going after loose balls and getting there a second late. Michael Curry will have to replace him with a minute 43 to play in the half. Grant sits down. Five points. [Music] [Applause] Will be an important 143 for the Pistons with Grant on the bench to somehow hang in here despite having what you would call a poor first half. Jordan makes that first in scoring and fourth in steals. Doing it on both ends as usual. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Some pressure full court they trap. Joe D trapped. Finds Mark West. Boed by Pippen. Now the bounce to Houston. Pistons attacked him. I don’t think they wanted Mark West to handle the ball at half court though, but they got away with it. Made good heady play. Lee Jones with a whistle. What a Terry Mills offensive foul. Well, off the ball, Terry Mills sets a screen on Michael. Moves just a hair, but boy, that’s that’s picking hairs, so to speak. Splitting hair. [Music] Jordan crosses over and an offensive foul. Offensive on Michael. You ready for that? Well, Michael’s smiling. He might know something’s up if you get my drift. Michael splits the defense once again. Joe steps up, takes his shoulder just a little bit, but uh he gets the call. Harry Mills with the turning gun wide out. It comes to Curry. Deep pitch to West and a travel is called Marty. Leave his feet. Mark sometimes gets that little shuffle going on the head fake. Probably should have taken that one up right away cuz he had longly out of position after the pass from Curry driving. Terry Mills for the block and the foul. That’s the second on Terry. Pistons had pulled within one. 3736. Bulls lead by five with Cuckoo shooting two. Got lucky with the first. Our trivia question for a Vegas State at the Imperial Palace. By the way, we want the 23rd correct call to the numbers 8103778700. Twice this season, Grant has set a careerhigh for single game points. How many did he score each time? The number is 8103778700. The 23rd correct caller goes to Vegas. [Applause] There’s Grant with only five in the first half. Crew coaching. Miss the second and Michael Curry will get a loose ball foul from Jack De. And the Pistons are struggling with the whistles here tonight. Good job. My turn. My turn. And Jordan is at the line and Doug Collins is not a happy man. When Grant left, it was down to a two-point lead. Now that lead has stretched to seven. Mostly done the damage from the foul lineage. Well, they got three that trip all from the line and they lead by eight. 4436. [Music] Jordan with 19 first half points. Come on. Ly and Joe Curry, Terry Mills, and Alan Houston for the Pistons and the Road Red. All up the finger roll. Holla George Pippen for Cuck short to Joe. Plenty of time. Guess they’re going to keep firing from out there until someone makes it or makes one. They are zipped for 15. A two second differential. Suffice it to say, they won’t lead the league after this game from three-point shooting. Five on the clock now. Four. Terry for three. Off the heel. Two seconds. Allan Houston finger roll short, but he tapped it in. Count it. Basket counts for Allen Houston. Great hustle and concentration and the Pistons are back within four at the intermission. 4440 Chicago on the Pistons television network. [Music] [Applause] [Music] More first half numbers on our AT&T halftime stat sheet. Neither team shooting 40%. Chicago with four more free throws. The Pistons with six triples to none for the Bulls. The turnovers 11 for 16 Chicago points. The Bulls with three turns and no Piston points. And after all that, George only down four. Brought to you by AT&T for the facts on guaranteed competitive business long distance. Call 1800. There’s a turnover. Well, a lot pass that went arrive more or less off the backboard. Michael Jordan a triple. That’s their first triple tonight. Kind of how things have gone the first half. Pistons turn it over. Bulls come down. This time though, they finally make the triple. Michael with 22, Chicago by seven. I’ll tell you what, the Piston play like they did the first half, they have no shot at winning. There’s just no way that they’re going to get that lucky two hands in a row. Joe D, great concentration on the long gun. They’re going to need more plays like the one that Joe D just gave them. He answers Michael’s tray. It’s 4743. Longley against Otis. Pippen for three and that one’s through. Well, okay. We go the whole first half. Three are wild. We watch zeros up on the board time and time again. Already in the first 130 of the second half, we see three go in. Hill for three. And that one’s through. Make it four. So, the Pistons have answered the Chicago long gun at 5046. The alley hoop to Jordan for a quick make it 5246 and 24 for Michael. He can’t Doug’s going to call it 20 like the tempo and I’m sure that’s why he called the timeout. It’s a 20 second timeout taken by Doug Collins with 10 and 23 to play here in the third. And now this former [Music] link to the past presented by your link to better communication. On tonight’s link, we travel back in time to the Pistons 8990 season and revisit the conference finals. With the Pistons and Bulls tied at three games apiece, the series shifted back to the Palace for game seven. Detroit’s homecourt advantage took its toll on the visiting Bulls as the Pistons dismantled Chicago by 19 points on route to their second straight NBA title. That’s tonight’s Link to the Past presented by Ameritech, your link to better communication. [Music] Back live in Chicago and with a little help from Doug Collins, Lee Jones whistles the Bulls for an illegal defense. Oh, when you stand right next to the coach and he’s yelling in your ear, it’s hard to ignore him. One of those dunks was by John Sally, now a member of the Bulls. Spider seems calm and collected and happy to be here. Otis got it blocked by Longley. He didn’t buy the pup face. Well, being on the beach isn’t too bad either as he said he was. Luke Long with a block and then a make. Longley six out of seven. 13 big ones. Close by eight for the Aussie. Otis trying to power it up. It is off the iron to Longwood on the run out. Rodman, but the Pistons come the other way. Tapped out of bounds by Pippen. Longley’s kind of picked up the slack of maybe Scotty Pippen. Four at halftime. Longley averaging nine and a half already with 13. Otis for Grant. And there’s Jordan with a steal. That’s why he’s top five in that category. Well, Otis made a sloppy pass. That was a very lazy pass. Didn’t read the situation. His man was open. Threw it to the wrong side. And that was Michael Jordan there to steal it. Time out Pistons with 9:05 to play in the third. Chicago by 10 on the Pistons television network. Benny Benny. Stay with us tonight. The latest news with air makson and David Scott, plus Randy Berto’s weather and Ray Lane’s highlights of our game. Watch the special late edition of the 10:00 news after the game right here on UPN50. [Music] Well, you’re going to see what happened that last play down. Watch Michael Jordan. He’s watching Joe D Joe Dumars. He switches, jumps in passing lane. Otis doesn’t recognize it. Throws it a little too soon. And there’s Michael down the other end for an easy dunk. 21 points off turnovers for the Bulls. None for the Pistons as you see there. [Music] [Applause] Chicago by 10. Just under nine to play in the third. Grant Hill clips up the facing jump hook it counted the foul. [Music] Longley with a foul and one thing you got to understand here is Grant Hill hasn’t really gotten himself on track and you know he will and maybe that’s the shot that will do it. Well, they were waiting for Grant to do something to spark this team. seemed to step slow, a little tired, and he has every right to be, but kind of had the feel that he would come alive in this second half. Try to piss, get the Pistons going offensively. He makes it, has 11, eight boards, five feeds. Not really too shabby with eight and a half to play in the third. Joe D with the reach in his second. That would be a career for some absolutely on his bad nights. 5649 Chicago Pipp and Harper Jordan Longley and Rodman the Bull starters out there. It also goes to prove George that even when the offense isn’t going there’s still other things you can do to help the team and that’s evident by the assists on the boards. Jordan spinning around and slamming. You can count that and a foul. Well, he’s he’s a pretty good player, too. Don Michael Jordan Don Reed’s fourth and I was going to say down low he’s just as dangerous as coming at you off the dribble. Such a good quick move down on the block. Little spin move and when you try to block that turn out the lights you don’t. Three-point trip for Jordan. Believe the graphic said four rebounds. He has eight. Otis with a drive and a flush. Lefty. That’ll get your attention. That’s 951. And with a purpose. [Music] Jordan over Grant. Michael Jordan with 31. 6151 Chicago. Is he just getting heated up now? Hope not. Yeah, that might be bad news. Houston against Pippen. Clock at 12 now. Michael takes it. Allen with the top side. Three-point gun. He got it. Houston. Allen. Houston with 15. The Pistons are within seven. Harper. [Music] Otis taking care of it. Gives to Allen. Now head to Grant. Don Reed screens. Grant with a gun on the run. No. Taps it. No. Kept alive. Pulled down by Grant. Back up to the rim and it’s in, but you’re going to take it away. It’s an offensive foul on Grant Hill. Boy, that’s a tough one to take. Such great hustle from Grant Hill. Up in the air three or four times as Doug Collins gets a technical foul. And you can understand why he was not happy with that call. Michael Jordan. You can’t treat Grant like that. Well, after such a great hustle play to keep that ball alive three or four times, come up with it and knock it down. And we’ll get a look. He misses the first one. Now watch the effort. Once, twice, three times. Robins over the back. Four times right there. Now watch this move. The last one. Harper leaning in. He’s got the ball in that arm. Well, defense leaning in. You clear space with that arm. I guess you’re going to take the shot. They call the foul. The charge on Grant Hill. That was a bad call. Here’s Longm. Rodman taps. No. Rebound. Otis. 6254 Chicago. To Otis. Finger roll. No. Was he fouled? Yes. Lee Jones missed that one. Well, I guess they’re going to let him play the second half. They should all swallow the whistle then. [Applause] Pippen against Joe. Line drive. Dish to Harper. Missed the hook. Down goes Rodman. Don Reed. Detroit. Don Reed his team. Terry Mills returns to the Don Reed will sit down. Terry Mills replaces him. Nice to see Marggo Feldman, Oscar Dee Feldman’s daughter, here at the game in Chicago tonight. You’re in the Pistons on Scotty Pippen misses that to Allen Houston. Need that kind of support in these strange towns. Yeah. Terry Mills jacks up the long gun. Won’t go. Michael Jordan the other way. Go with rebound number nine. [Music] Longley doesn’t hang on. Family night’s coming up at the Palace. Cleveland’s in on the 15th. The Nuggets on the 17th. The tickets, the drinks, the popcorn, and the dogs and t-shirts. 122 bucks worth for just 59. Call us during our telecast tonight. Oh, here’s another swipe for Michael. Boy, he’s had three of these. He had his picture taken three times as well to sell in next week’s stores. He has 34 and we still have five and 35 to play in the third. Grant lost the handle on that pass. Slipped out. Michael made a pay [Applause] back inside out. swatted away on the way down. Going through. Now they really got to make sure they keep their composure. The Pistons do right now. Can’t let this game slide away right now cuz it’s still an eight-point ball game. Pippen goes up, rejects it. Illegal. Five and 15 to play in the third. Longley and taking the charge as Otis four on Luke Longwood. C Coach will check in for Chicago. [Applause] This program brought to you by US Signal providing the best performance and value in business. Long distance video and data transmission and now local telephone service. US Signal advanced communications clear and simple. [Applause] 6456 Chicago. Ellen Houston giving the hell to Otis but Robin had him all wrapped up. Here’s swipe by Pippen. Joe fakes the tray. Houston to Joe. Counts if it goes. He beaten the buzzer with a triple. And they needed that badly. Both come out play that stingy manto man and play those passing lanes. Made that triple almost a little too tough for him. Piston’s 10th tray tonight. Pippen [Applause] 6659 Chicago 4 and 24 to play in the third. Terry Mills against Cuckoo. Pocket 10. Screening for Joe over Harper. He hits it. Another Joe Dumar’s triple. [Applause] his third in the third. Jordan with a line drive gun. It’s off the heel. A great position for Otis Thorp. That’s got to be a Chicago loose ball foul on Dennis Ryman. His third point is Joe Dumar’s when he really wants a three. He has that look in his eyes that he’s just sizing him up and saying, “Get out of my way. I think I’m going to make one.” Don’t look now, but the Pistons are within four with just under four to play in the third. [Applause] Shot clock at 10. Joe’s got cuck coach. Blocks at five for Otis. [Applause] Down goes Dennis Rodman. Otis Thorp. His call for traveling. Jack Nish trying to make that perhaps fair. Yeah. Well, they’re going to give him the lesser of two evils. I thought Dennis kind of didn’t have good position there and little bit of a fake, but I think they’ll take the walk over the foul. 6662 Chicago Bulls ball. Just under three and a half to play in the third. Jordan over a double team. Kiss the high glass. Harper tapped it in. Oh, great timing. Ryan Harper, the man on the spot, up in the air and retrieves Michael’s miss. Did you ever think he was going to miss it? That’s really believing every shot is going to be missed. He’s taking a chance. Joe bumped and fouled outside by Pippen. Joe D with a triple barrage here in the third. He has three of them. And we’ll get time out. 6862 Chicago. There’s one of Joe D’s threes. This is the Pistons Television Network. [Music] Did he get built for that? [Applause] Congratulations. [Music] [Applause] The Pistons making a run for just the right position in the postseason against Jason Kidd in Dallas on Saturday night. And then the dunk champ Brent Barry. What a nice all-around player he is. And the Clippers on Monday. Charles Barkley and the Suns next Wednesday. Tickets are going fast. Call us during our game tonight at 8103770100 or visit the Palace Box office or any ticket master center. And don’t forget, we’re playing trivia. Give you a chance to tee it up at Vernal Beach. Stay tuned. Right now, I just wish I could tee it up anywhere. I hear you. That has grass. [Applause] Pistons down by six. Just under three to play in the third. Otis against the worm. Lays it up. No. Good defense by Dennis Rodman. Pippen. Touch feed to CO from Rod. Jordan against Joe. Harper hands to Pippen. Pocket nine. Cot screen. Scotty Pippen sticks it. 7062 Chicago done a pretty good job on Scotty only 11. You got to be afraid that he can heat it up in her. Houston against Harper Hill screen the jump stop gun off the high glass. Hit it. Allan Houston acrobatic again throwing some stuff in Chicago. He has 17. Getting real good with that double clutch shot. We’ve seen it three or four times this year. Audi Pippen misses the tray. Jordan gets it back and gets it down. Jordan with 36. 7264 Chicago. This is for a four game win streak. Grant Hill to Terry Mills. Allan Houston plays it up and in. Can he take it to the hoop? 19 for Allen. A great strong hard drive to the hole. would not be denied. Allan Houston a rack with a purpose. Michael’s carrying the Bulls right now offensively. Here’s a tough followway over Joe Dy. It’s nothing but the bottom. 38 for Michael Jordan. You’ve got to try to make someone else put some points on the board cuz Michael can carry a team by himself offensive. Grant Hill gets by Cos. That was like taking Casey to a baby. Laid it in. They don’t see that much quickness over in Europe, but uh Grant can do that to a lot of people [Applause] [Music] in everybody’s going to one with three and nine boards. Chicago by eight again. Final minute, third quarter. Joe against Jordan. The hand check called Michael’s third. [Applause] Don’t forget we got a coach’s corner coming up on Tuesday at 6. I’ll be there with Alvin Gentry and a Piston player and that’s our player on Saturday night during our telecast of the Pistons in Dallas for Spectadium. Great new sports ball over on Living between 15 and 16 mile road or wellness plan coaches corner. Jordan and Grant both sit down. Give him a little rest now. And at the break, Curry still with it. Bumps in to C. Coach is all in an offensive out. [Applause] 23 seconds to play in the third. The Pistons trail by eight. Let’s take another look. Michael Curry turns the corner. turns the line. It didn’t look like coach did have good position, but it looked like he still got that arm at the last minute and Turk thinks so as well. Nonetheless, Pistons don’t get the call and a few of those have gone against them tonight. Ker Pippen, CO Bushler, and Ron Harper for the Bulls. They lead 7668. Pippen wants it himself. Curry with a foul. Now it’s time for Scottie Pippen to carry the load offensively with Michael getting a break and some rest had that foul to Gil by the way as Lindsay replaces Terry Mill. Well, that’s what Scotty Pippen knew as well. You see him try to get that ball up in the air like he’s in the act of shooting. Doesn’t get away with it though. Push Curry cradles the rebound. Very important board. Good box out. The Pistons stay within eight after 3768 in Chicago. This is the Pistons television network. The Vipers home tomorrow night against Milwaukee and Orlando on Saturday afternoon plus Fort Wayne on the 21st. Call us during our telecast tonight for ticket information. And the Cape Crusaders are coming in too. Robin Bert Ward will be at the game tomorrow. And Adam West will appear on Saturday. Both will be available on their respective nights for autographs during the game on the concourse. Don’t miss your chance to see [Music] Batman. Let’s see. If I’m Batman, that makes you Robin. And over there they team is Rodman. They’ve got all three. Superman, Batman, and Rodman. Pippen deep for three. Won’t go through. Strong rebound for Grant Hill. The Pistons hope to be the Joker tonight. Have the last laugh. I like Grant to the rim. Going to be short. Rodman rebound. 7668 Chicago. First minute of the fourth. Well, the good news is still in the ball game, George. The bad news, the Bulls are 47 and0 entering the fourth quarter when they’re ahead. Pippen against Houston playing him tough. Thank you. That’s a pretty awesome stat. And we’re going to get a 3second call against Chicago. [Applause] Dennis Rodman called for it. Phil Jackson who has done a very nice job blending Dennis Rodman in here time and time again Phil Jackson comes up with something new great coach Lindsey Hunter off the glass know it’s not easy to coach troubles to Pippen even a good team [Applause] Pippen was standing on the line saves it pushed Hustle. Grant Hill with that rebound. He has a dozen. Don’t take advantage of it. Grant is short. Rodman to Pippen. 7668 Chicago. Jordan resting. The bounce to Kerr. Now Bushler the baseline leaner. No. A loose ball foul called on Dennis Rodman. That is his fourth with 10 and 12 to go in the game. Numbers through three. 44% Piston shooting. 11 triples in 21 tries. Two for 18 from behind the line for the Bulls. They do have five more free throws. Only to the line seven times for the Pistons, though they’ve made every attempt. You’d like to see that number higher. That means one of two things. It’s either they’re tired or they’re not getting a lot of calls. Might see a little bit of both. Resting as Joe Dumar checks in. And there you see Randy Brown into the game for the Bulls. Poked away by Pippen. Picked up by Curry in. Thank you, Scott. He gets the assist on that. That’s a play by Michael Curry. The Pistons are down six. That’s all. 9 and 50 to go. Dennis Robin on the weave to Kerr. Screams. Kurr chased by Lindsay. Pippen against Grant Hill. Shot clock six from the baseline. Uh-uh. Rebound tapped controlled by Dennis Rodman. Pippen for three. Rodman reaching over. Nearly got a loose ball foul there. Terry doing a nice job of keeping Dennis occupied. Lindsay Hunter with a pull up. Shooting is just not there tonight. They’ve really struggled. Tired legs. Time out. Chicago with nine and 13 to go. 7670. The Bulls lead the Pistons. This is the Pistons television network. [Music] [Applause] Alice has family entertainment. Everybody a family with something for them. DC talking the 16th, Ron Stewart the 18th. In April, it’s Michael W. Smith and the Royal Hannerford Circus for Coca-Cola and Target for tickets called during our telecast tonight. Michael Curry with a quick grab. Pistons first team foul. 908 to go in the game. Team fouls one wild. Curry against Jordan who’s come back. He’ll turn force and fill it up. How about that? Off the bench. Michael Curry who’s strong all over him and at least a little body on him and he buries it. Couldn’t have played better defense and Michael couldn’t have made a tougher shot. You said it. He has 40. He’s all world. Curry Longley stopped the drive. 7870 Chicago 838 left two coach two time round top side long got to let him have that don’t you grant Hill comes down with a rebound ahead for Terry Mill for three free throws coming up for T coach got him on the way by and if he didn’t call it Mike Abanau certainly [Applause] Jerry Mills on the line shooting three. There are a couple guys who used to be adversaries in the Eastern Finals. Michael Jordan and James Edwards talking. Doug Collins talking about getting the crowd into the game just a little bit more at the palace. They’re sure into it here, aren’t they? Here they are. By no means was Doug criticizing not somebody not showing up. He just felt as well as the team had played on the road and as hard as they had worked, he just wanted everybody to appreciate them. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I think the people in Detroit really appreciate the Pistons, particularly what they’ve done this year. And tell you what, we’re having fun watching them. I think everybody else back home is as well. It’s been a sensational season, much better than a lot of people thought. playoffs seem to be in the picture. Maybe even a pretty good playoff spot. Hey, this is a Detroit type of team, George. They’re hardworking and they get it done. Oh, speaking of getting it done, Michael Jordan just took the baseline. They’re having a little trouble getting it done against the Bulls, but so has the rest of the league. They’re going for 30 in a row at home. Michael slam Curry with a miss to cook up. [Applause] 8071 Chicago. 7 and 41 to go. Jordan feeling it. Threw it away. Granhill just by coach hooks and hits but a foul first. Coach with a foul. Linda Nibs from Grailing here at the game tonight, too. And this copyrighted telecast of the National Basketball Association may not be re-ransmitted, reproduced, or rebroadcast without the express written consent of the NBA. Randy Brown’s back for Randy Brown. Michael Jordan was 42. Scary. It’s a big number. Sure. Our numbers guy back in Detroit, Eddie Rivera, can keep the track, too. Boy, Eddie’s the best. He’s scary. Eddie’s such a good guy. He knows more about me than I do. Jordan was going to get a breakaway. Terry Mills him down. Well, Terry Mills kept Michael from having a four poster night. One-on-one. Goo coach reaches in right to Michael and if T Mills isn’t there. Michael goes on another one of his highlight reel dunks. And the Pistons reel them in again. 708 to go. Chicago up nine. Two free throws coming from Michael. Every time the Bulls looked like they were going to run away, the Pistons have come back. There he is. The all-time leader in games played. Jerry Sloan is second. pass uh the great Jerry Sloan this past year, this season, I should say. It’s not past. Michael Jordan with 44 points. Chicago by 11. Don’t think every person in this building knows exactly how many he he has and are counting. Grant Hill to the rim. Missed the reverse. [Applause] [Music] Kerr. Obviously Steve Kerr doesn’t know how many he has. Terry Mills for Joe. Over Kur just missed. Out of bounds. It belongs to the Bulls. 44 and the Bulls have 82. My math is okay, which it usually is. That’s over half. Well over half. Pumps against Mills. Top side Jordan. 47 for Michael Jordan. 8571 Chicago. Michael giving a little star down to Doug Collins saying you better call a timeout. And the Pistons do just that. Michael Jordan has been all over the Pistons. 8571 Chicago on the Pistons television network. Our uh unsung hero is going to be Joe. Yeah. Smart Allen play that Harry. Stay with us for the latest news with airson and David Scott, plus Randy Berto’s weather and Ray Lane sports. The special late edition of the 10:00 news following the game right here on UPN50. Red Hill inside. Lost it. Got it back. [Applause] Joe D top side to Grant spinning away from Pippen and Scotty Pippen gets the foul. Michael Jordan one shy of his season high with 47 points which you got against Jerry Stackhouse and the Sixers when uh the young rookie said I don’t think there’s anyone can stop me in this league. Nobody from the Pistons anything like that. Michael just said stop this. Houston sticks it the long deuce. Allan Houston’s played well. He has 21 now starts the Michael watch for for 50. Longley Cuck coach over Curry. He hits it coach. 8773 Chicago line. Chicago Pistons turn it over. 19 turnovers or 27 Chicago points. [Music] Probably the difference in this guy. Michael Jones with another make. He has 49. That’s a season high. And we’re still counting with 4 and 50 to go. Our statistician only put down 49. numbers. He’s going to add a few more. Pistons turn over again. Won’t do that against that. Certainly not in here. Michael inside the fall away and he fills it up. Even Michael knows this is special. Well, you’ve heard it before. It’s called in the zone. He is feeling it right now. Gary Mills missed the reverse scoop. Who coach? And the points are being reigned on the Pistons right now. Well, the nails are in place. All you have to do is hammer them in. Three and 50 left. Hill pretty much in the books. misses from the top. One to Jordan. Michael with 51. [Applause] Oh wow. My goodness. He’s smiling. He could shoot it with his eyes closed. Awesome. Absolutely awesome. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey sports fan, dribble over to Price’s menware. They got Hugo Boss and Canali Suits also Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger. Remember for the hottest fashions the name of the game is Price’s men. Well, the last one before Michael takes the rest of the night off. He’s feeling it, baby. Nothing but net and smiling, saying, “I’m having a good night.” 21 for 28. Curry misses. The Bulls have John Sally, Jason Cathy, Randy Brown, Pusher, and Cerr on the floor. Reed Rat, Lindsay, Lou Ro, and Michael Curry for the Pistons. There is Michael Jordan. A season high. His careerhigh is 69 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Seem to be in a good mood before the game when we’re talking to him. Maybe we got I got him in too good of a mood. He’s come over here twice. Might be in a better mood now. Visit hung around for a long long time. But then Jordan personally blew this game wide open. Now Spider’s got a little too excited for John. Great news from Dunham for the next 48 hours. Rawlings 13-in baseball glove regularly tan all leather shell basket WB regularly priced at $49.99. Just $39.99 if you mention our Piston special at the time of the purchase. Sorry Lou, we missed your stuff. Oh, fans saw it though. They’ll hear about it. I’ll stick up for you, Lou. 9575. Two and a half to go. You know, John wants to score badly. Missed the hook over Leo. He got that first one, a jump shot from about 12. He shot at about 18 and then he traveled and then missed that one. But, uh, good to see Spider. Oh, he’s good people. Brown with a rebound. He says not a bad choice either way. Either coming here or staying at home cuz he’s on the beat. So, he had a tough decision, but he’s glad he got a chance. Lro is Randy Brown. First foul by third. [Applause] Tell you what, who couldn’t have fun, especially tonight watching Michael Jordan going 53 to the rim. There’s some contact, not a whistle on the floor. Sally troubles to Brown. Now cur fires. It won’t fall. [Applause] Lindsay Hunter for the Pistons down 9575. Pusher up with the ball for the Bulls ahead to Brown. Ali Kathy couldn’t convert. Theo with a rebound. [Applause] Minute and 15 to go in the game. Per with a steal and he sticks the tray. 34 points all Piston turnovers tonight. That was the 22nd turnover. Cerr looking skyward saying finally. Curry wheels. Randy Brown got him. Randy Brown his first. [Music] [Applause] There are Buddha and the worm with his ears. Michael Jordan. They’re saying he never got 53 on us when when we were real good. I tell you why. He just hates George. I’ve been there certain games that I’ve had just can’t be stopped. Michael had one of those tonight, particularly that second half where everything he put out and it was going in. Soon as he let go, he’s smiling. Oh yeah, that’s confidence and ability too. You just know it. I know that K. Special player maybe one we’ll never see again. Curve triple 10177, but who’s counting at this point? Final minute in Chicago. Lindseay Hunter runs into John Sally. John had no chance to get that call with all the calls that were caught the other way tonight. We mentioned it before the game. This is You really can’t be upset with the Pistons. We figure that they might get tired sooner or later. Better to come now than earlier or later on. Time now for our Dunkin Donuts dunk of the game. Brought to you by Dunkin Donuts where the coffee is fresh ground and fresh brew just minutes before serving. Here comes the dunk. Don Reed throws it down. That’s our Dunkin Donuts dunking. Dunkin Donuts. And Michael Jordan. He didn’t put any donuts up on the board. He put a lot of numbers on the board. 21 for 28. Sally whips it to Kerr. John draws the foul with 17 seconds to go. Detroit personal foul is second the team. John seven shoots two. [Applause] Sally at the stripe to shoot two. This was a ball game until Michael Jordan took over. Pistons triples kept them in it. And uh we’re keeping track there. Bell ringers for Bell Tire and Kelly Springfield. Here comes Harry, the little guy who shoots the trays. The round man with 11 triples to report tonight. They are Bell Ringers and donations to the Pistons Palace Foundation. Kelly got one of the two. They were cheering for John. He’s finally in the good column on the Bulls record books with a point. Theo Ratliff flushes with 7.9 seconds left. And that ought to do it. Too bad the Pistons want to show up and show a little more here tonight. They showed enough to hang around and make it a ball game until that guy went on. And he sure did. to the tune of 53 points. Michael Jordan with 53. And the Bulls run away 102- 81. Snapping the Pistons four game win streak. There’s Dennis Rabin about to give a jersey away. And the shirt goes 30 in counting. The new United Center usually makes all the headlines after the game until the jersey. I want his jersey tonight. This is the Pistons television network. [Music] [Applause] [Music]

This complete game archive captures a key moment in the Chicago Bulls’ historic 1995-96 season, a relentless 102-81 victory over the Detroit Pistons. The win pushed the Bulls to a staggering 55-6 record on their march to an unprecedented 72-10 regular season finish. This contest is most notable as the night Michael Jordan surpassed yet another historic marker, scoring his 24,000th career point en route to a dominant 53-point performance.

Timestamped Index:
00:00:00 – Pregame and Introduction
00:05:52 – Starting Lineups
00:09:51 – Jordan’s aggressive start, attacking the basket early.
00:27:28 – Scottie Pippen orchestrates the fast break.
00:34:47 – Dennis Rodman secures a string of offensive rebounds.
00:54:09 – Halftime analysis of the Bulls’ dominant first half.
00:56:00 – MILESTONE: Michael Jordan scores his 24,000th career point.
01:16:53 – Grant Hill showcases his all-around game for the Pistons.
01:26:57 – The Triangle Offense in full effect, leading to a Toni Kukoč score.
01:11:55 – Jordan hits a signature fadeaway jumper to extend the lead.
01:36:41 – Postgame analysis.

Historical Narrative:
By early March of 1996, the Chicago Bulls were no longer just a basketball team; they were a force of nature laying waste to the NBA landscape. Coming off a decisive win against the Minnesota Timberwolves just two nights prior, the Bulls hosted a young Detroit Pistons team at the United Center, not as the bitter rivals of old, but as another obstacle in their path to history. The “Jordan Rules” era was a memory; this Pistons team was now led by the supremely talented Grant Hill, a symbol of a new generation.

The game’s outcome was never seriously in doubt. The Bulls, operating with the ruthless efficiency that defined their 1995-96 campaign, established control early and systematically dismantled Detroit. Michael Jordan was the consummate leader, finishing with a game-high 53 points on an efficient 21-of-28 shooting. His performance was highlighted in the third quarter when he scored the basket that pushed him over the 24,000-point plateau for his career, joining an elite club of scorers.

Beyond Jordan’s milestone, the game was a textbook display of the Bulls’ multi-faceted dominance. Scottie Pippen was a masterful floor general, contributing 13 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, while spearheading the team’s suffocating defense with 3 steals. On the glass, Dennis Rodman was relentless, pulling down a staggering 15 rebounds, 6 of them on the offensive end, demoralizing the Pistons and creating countless second-chance opportunities. The synergy was palpable, a testament to the mindset Phil Jackson had cultivated. Jackson, in his book

Eleven Rings, would later describe the 1995-96 squad’s unique focus after Jordan’s return from baseball: “Michael was more patient and willing to trust his teammates… He didn’t have to be the Michael of old, and the team was much stronger as a result.” This game stands as a prime example of that evolution—a methodical, dominant victory on the path to a historic sixth championship.