January 1989
1.4.89: vs Utah (25-8). The new year kicks off with a bang, as a rematch with the hated defending champs in Chicago takes the league’s focus. Once again, the Evil Harris Connors used his might to push the Jazz over the Bulls, 116-111. He scored 33 points and registered 13 rebounds. Sammie Snodgrass added 23, while Royal Bryant scored 20 with 11 boards and five blocks. Jack’s 39 came on 18-29 shooting, while he registered 11 boards, 18 assists, four blocks, and a pair of steals. Joshua Jones added 28-15-5. Jesus Brawner, who had lost time to Bye Felicien when starting point Josh Whitman went down, scored 10 in 26 minutes off the bench. Bye Felicien showed why he should come off the bench, shooting 2-12 to end with six points, six assists, and five turnovers. The Jazz are definitely ahead of the Bulls, and will continue to be until the Bulls figure out a way to stop Connors and Bryant.
Record: 23-8
1.5.89: at Denver (12-20). Major disappointment Denver is the next stop for the Bulls. The Bulls, behind 29-10-7 (9-11 FG) ran all over the Nuggets, 105-74. Denver shot 31% from the field. Unbelieveable. Jones added 24 and 12 boards, though with six turnovers (24 for the Bulls, another problem). Bye Felicien scored 14, on 6-7 shooting, with five assists, while Jesus Brawner, playing 43 minutes, had 12-3-3. Joe Curtis led Denver with 12, while Jim Burr had just 10 on 4-12 shooting. Perhaps the old man…he’s 33…is beginning to lose his touch. He’s averaging a career-high 12.7 ppg this year, and his 8.0 rpg are his lowest since 1982. He is shooting just 39%, easily the worst of his career.
Record: 24-8
1.9.89: at Boston (21-12). The Celtics host the Bulls in a big rivalry game, being played without Brian Deese (out 15 days) or Jules Howes (out for another 2.5 months). Howes has played in only 13 games this year, averaging 25.2 ppg…on an offensively-strapped team like the Celtics, you know that’s hard to replace. They definitely failed to replace it in Chicago’s 113-83 whitewashing of the C’s. Jack’s 22-8-8, and Sheldon Maurer’s 20 in 18 minutes (9-12 FG) paced the Bulls. Jones added 18 and eight boards, while Gayle Cruz, who had been slumping, scored 15. Reserve center Antwan Freund came off the bench, replacing a foul-plagued Thomas Jones to score 22 points and nab eight rebounds. Jones scored 12 points in his 11 minutes, going 6-9. David Neubauer, who is currently the most villified man in Boston, scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting. That isa bove his 9.8 ppg average. How’s that $2.2m working for you?
Record: 25-8
1.11.89: at Atlanta (15-17). The Bulls, feeling good after their big blowout in Boston, fell to the Hawks, 98-95. Jefferey Adam, the Hawks young star, led the Hawks with 22-9-7, while Joe Kujawa scored 19, and Joseph Johnson added 12 and 10 boards. Jack’s 35-14-6 with four steals led the Bulls. So did his six turnovers…Jones put up 20-7-5, seven blocks, and four turnovers. Cruz added 12.
Record: 25-9
1.13.89: vs Charlotte (6-31). The Bulls got back to winning with a 126-100 romp of the Hornets at Chicago Stadium. Jack’s 33-8-12 (no turnovers). Jones added 23-12-4, Cruz scored 20, and Bye Felicien had 14 (4-4, 2-2, 4-4) and five assists in 16 minutes. Henry Martin led the Hornets with 19-11-4, while Jose Thomson scored 14.
Record: 26-9
1.14.89: vs Washington (21-14). This is the first game between the two since the onset of the season. Washington is in a dogfight with a surging Sixers team, and a stagnant Celtics team, atop the Atlantic. Getting the Bulls, and an angry Jack, didn’t help them any. Jack’s 43-11-7-2-2 (17-20 FG) led the Bulls to a 101-84 win. Jones added 18, while Eddie Shank had 12-9-5 off the bench (though on 17 shots). Jon McElroy, now in his ninth year, led Washington with 24 and 10 rebounds. Lamont Cioffi offered 19-11-4 (six turnovers), but Kelly Williams, who caught Chicago off-guard early in the year, had 11 points, six assists, and five turnovers.
Record: 27-9
1.18.89: vs Dallas (25-14). The Mavs come to town for another big interconference showdown. The Bulls gained this one on Jack’s 37-21-10-6-1, and Jones’ 26-9-6. Gregory Escalera added 13. Clemente Ellis had 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 blocks for the Mavs. Carl Caro added 20 and 13 rebounds, while Luther Culpepper, the former Sonics star, scored 13 off the bench. Dom Winkler added 11 in 23 foul-plagued minutes.
Record: 28-9
1.19.89: vs Boston (22-15). The shell of the Celtics could not stop Jack, who had almost as many free throw attempts as the Celtics did (Celtics 28, Jack 24). He made 22 of them, going for 45-9-6-2-2 on the night. Josh added 26 points and 9 boards, and Josh Whitman scored 11 with five assists in his return, as the Bulls whipped Boston, 126-102. Thomas Jones led the C’s with 21, while Antwan Freund is going to challenge for more time when Brian Deese returns. He had 19 and 9 boards, and has generally played quite well in Deese’s absense. PG Travis Cruz, who Jack faced in the 1983 NCAA Championship when with Princeton, scored 18 with seven rebounds.
Record: 29-9
1.23.89: vs Milwaukee (11-29). Jack continued his roll with 38-12-11, and Josh had 24 with eight rebounds, as the Bulls blew out the Blucks, 121-102.Eddie Shank had 13-6-4, getting the majority of the minutes as Gayle Cruz had foul trouble. Emil Andrae led Milwaukee with 19, while former starters Elpidio Fernandez had 15 points and 15 boards, and Adrian Mathison added 12. Reports that Richie Russell is drepressed and seeking a way out of Milwaukee are well-founded. Russell scored 13 and registered just four assists. His star, once nearly as bright in Jack’s long shadow, is now eclipsed.
Record: 30-9
1.27.89: at New York (20-21). The Bulls outlasted the Knicks, 106-96, behind 26-11-4 from Josh, and a rather subdued 21-4-7 and three blocks from Jack. Escalera scored 18, while Whitman had 8-4-11. Nicky Lopez showed up with 14 points playing a lot of minutes as Jack fought foul trouble. Former Mav David Brenneman and top SF Joshua Shriver scored 20 each, while PG Robert Withrow had 19-15-4. Joshua Morris, now known as The One Killed By Hugh Turnage, had just nine points in 13 minutes off the bench.
Record: 31-9
1.28.89: vs Detroit (27-14). The Bulls come into this game 4.5 games ahead of the Pistons. They left it up five and a half, as they beat Detroit, 127-118. Jack’s 33-11-7-4-1 led the way, while Josh had 26-12-5, and Cruz 20 and six boards. Brian Crawford did his part with 37 for Detroit, adding eight boards…and eight turnovers. Stevie Michaelson added 29, while Thomas Henderson had 25 and 11 assists. Whereas Detroit’s star loomed large in the sky in the early part of the season, it appears they have stagnated, while the Bulls fly high. For now.
Record: 32-9
1.31.89: at Philadelphia (27-18). The Sixers have rebounded well since they last played the Bulls…but the Bulls are on a major roll. Jack’s 33-12-6-3-2 led six double-digit scorers, as the Bulls beat up on the Sixers, 104-85. Jones had 14-5-4, while Whitman put up a nice 14-8-9 night. Woodrow Taber, who had a technical the last time the two teams met, led the way with 23 points, 7 boards, and 9 blocks. David Lawson, the team’s leading scorer at 25.6 ppg, was held to just 12 on 4-10 shooting.
Record: 33-9
Standings Update: The Bulls, once again, have the league’s best record, a game and a half ahead of Utah. This is not entirely surprising, given their 22-4 conference record. Utah, by contrast, is 20-11 against the Western Conference…13-1 against the East. Their only loss was to the Knicks. I totally forget that the power poll is here…the Bulls are atop it, followed by Utah, then Sacramento of all teams. The LA teams, despite their horrible records, are 19th and 20th. Shows you how powerful the West is.
Code:
Power Poll
# Team Record Rating
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#1 Chicago 33 - 9 1.312
#2 Utah 33 - 12 1.015
#3 Sacramento 29 - 16 0.884
#4 Detroit 27 - 16 0.865
#5 New Jersey 24 - 22 0.782
#6 Phoenix 26 - 19 0.704
#7 Philadelphia 27 - 19 0.699
#8 Boston 25 - 18 0.687
#9 Golden State 26 - 19 0.686
#10 Dallas 27 - 19 0.674
#11 Washington 25 - 18 0.623
#12 Portland 25 - 22 0.579
#13 Indiana 22 - 25 0.576
#14 New York 22 - 22 0.529
#15 Houston 23 - 23 0.503
#16 San Antonio 24 - 20 0.456
#17 Seattle 19 - 25 0.380
#18 Denver 17 - 27 0.349
#19 Los Angeles (LAL) 19 - 26 0.271
#20 Los Angeles (LAC) 16 - 28 0.249
#21 Atlanta 18 - 24 0.222
#22 Cleveland 18 - 27 0.151
#23 Milwaukee 12 - 33 -0.143
#24 Miami 12 - 32 -0.172
#25 Charlotte 9 - 37 -0.254