BULLS STRUGGLE TO WIN NO. 70 : '71-72 LAKERS' RECORD BROKEN.

Byline: Associated Press 

The Chicago Bulls stamped a big 70 on a season of superlatives Tuesday night. It just wasn't the decisive win they wanted.

The Bulls barely got past the lowly Milwaukee Bucks with a 86-80 victory and didn't exactly look like the most dominating team in NBA history.

Still, it made Chicago 70-9, breaking the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers' record of 69 wins.

The Bulls shot just 39 percent, didn't get a spectacular game from any of their superstars and needed a scoreless final four minutes from the Bucks in order to get it done.

``We didn't really play our kind of basketball,'' said Michael Jordan, who had 22 points. ``Somehow, our defense kind of got hot and we were able to hold them down.''

Some of the Bulls have already called themselves the greatest team in NBA history, a boast that's sure to be debated. They'd get a good argument from anyone using Tuesday night's performance to judge.

The Bulls were out of sync all night, looking tight in their biggest game of the season.

Jordan shot just 9 of 27 from the field, missing all his shots in the final four minutes when Chicago struggled to pull away. His biggest play, however, was blocking a 3-point attempt by Johnny Newman with 16 seconds left that could have pulled the Bucks within one.

Instead, Steve Kerr was fouled, made two foul shots and the outcome was sealed.

The Bucks didn't even play defense in the final six seconds, allowing the Bulls to walk off their court hugging and high-fiving, their seasonlong quest finally fulfilled.

Scottie Pippen and Luc Longley had 16 each for Chicago, and no one else reached double figures.

Vin Baker led Milwaukee with 28 points, but the Bucks had five of their 10 turnovers in the final four minutes as the Bulls' pressure turned out to be too much.

``One thing we committed to in the locker room before the game was if they did get 70, they wouldn't get it easy,'' Milwaukee's Terry Cummings said. ``I didn't expect us to get blown out tonight.''

It's been a season almost beyond comparison for the Bulls, a run of success unlike any that's been seen in the NBA's 49-year history. They won their first 37 home games, setting a mark for most consecutive victories at the start of a season and most spanning two seasons (44 straight).

The possibility of breaking the Lakers' 24-year-old mark became a near certainty as the victories piled up through the winter. With three games remaining, the Bulls can set an even higher standard of regular-season excellence.

Hundreds of Bulls fans made the 90-mile drive to Milwaukee and bought tickets from scalpers asking $200 per ticket.

The crowd appeared almost evenly split between Bulls and Bucks fans, but the Chicago portion was silenced for longer than expected.

After trailing nearly the entire game, the Bulls took their first lead of the game with 7:22 left on a 3-pointer by Steve Kerr after an offensive rebound by Dennis Rodman, who finished with 19 rebounds.

Milwaukee pulled within one twice more, but Kerr made a 21-foot jumper and Pippen had a three-point play to keep Chicago ahead.

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Photo: (color) Scottie Pippen gets a hug from Ron Ha rper after the Bulls beat Milwaukee to set an NBA record with their 70th win of the season.

Chicago Tribune

Chart: TOP WINNING PERCENTAGES