Brad Miller had more technical fouls than points Wednesday night, a sure sign Jarron Collins was doing his job.

Miller came into the game averaging 12.6 points per game but the Chicago Bulls center took just four shots, missed them all and went scoreless in 22 minutes.

For much of the night he appeared more concerned with getting at Collins than getting to the basket, at one point shoving Jazz forward Bryon Russell in frustration to draw a technical foul.

""I can tell when a guy gets frustrated because he starts throwing elbows and cheap shots," Collins said. ""You just keep playing. That"s when it"s fun."

When Collins, a 6-foot-11, 255 pound rookie center, sees the frustration simmering in an opponent, he knows to keep applying the pressure.

""He"s more worried about me than doing his job," Collins said. ""That"s what I try to do defensively."

Four days earlier, Sacramento All-Star Chris Webber went 4-for-16 from the field, getting so frustrated at one point he threw an elbow into Collins" chin, drawing a flagrant foul - and later earning a one-game suspension from the NBA.

There was plenty of thievery at the Delta Center Wednesday night - along with yet another Karl Malone milestone - but there was nothing that reminded folks of the Jazz-Bulls rivalry in its heyday. Instead of Michael Jordan in No. 23 leading the way for Chicago, there was Eddie Robinson in No. 32 leading them with 18 points.

Instead of posturing for an NBA Finals rematch, the two teams were struggling simply to find their way.

Instead of intensity, there was apathy.

""It looked like we were just trying to get it over with," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of his team"s 90-78 victory over Chicago, the worst team in the league.

The game featured 30 steals but many of those came from sloppy offense rather than great defense.

""When you"re not concentrating on playing basketball and looking to get the game over, that"s what you get from both teams," Sloan said, noting Chicago had 22 turnovers and the Jazz had 20.

As the final minutes melted away in the Jazz's 90-78 win over Chicago on Wednesday night, only one question remained:
   
Would Karl Malone score the one point he needed to reach 34,000 in his career at the emptying Delta Center? Or would he wait to reach the milestone until the opening moments of Saturday's nationally televised game against Portland?
   
When Malone missed badly on back-to-back jumpers with just over six minutes remaining, the question lingered.
   
When Malone did not take a shot -- or even look to shoot -- during the Jazz's next nine possessions, the question seemed answered.

As he does once or twice a season, Karl Malone reached another scoring milestone Wednesday.
     
And he did it despite an off-shooting night in an otherwise forgettable and messy midseason victory over the NBA's worst team, the Chicago Bulls, 90-78 at the Delta Center.

With 1:27 left in the contest, Malone was fouled by Marcus Fizer. He missed the first free throw but made the second, giving him a team-high 18 points for the night and 34,000 points for his career.
     
Utah's Andrei Kirilenko was impressed by the sheer numbers involved in Malone's accomplishment. "It's crazy," he said. "He's a very great player, and I hope he gets 40,000."
     
Malone appreciated the sentiment, but after some quick calculation said, "I probably won't. That's a lot more years than I want to play. I've got them in me, but I don't know if I want to play."
     
(So you don't have to break out the calculator, it would take Malone at least three more seasons to reach 40,000.)
     
"Milestones, I kind of like to get them over with so you can think about playing the game of basketball," Malone said. "But that's a lot of points."

Charles Oakley's consistent critique this season, one he reprised Wednesday night, is that teams can't win playing 10 to 12 guys.

"Tell him we won six championships playing that way," Bulls coach Bill Cartwright said.

Once again, Cartwright went to his bench early and often, using 11 players by halftime. But Utah wore down the attempt at depth in a 90-78 victory in front of 18,871 at the Delta Center.

The Bulls have now lost 26 straight road games to Western Conference teams, with three remaining on this trip.

Matters broke down Wednesday with the starters playing. .

Back-to-back turnovers?one by Oakley, one by Ron Artest?led to dunks by Karl Malone and Andrei Kirilenko with just over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Suddenly, a six-point halftime deficit had grown to 57-44.

The two times the Bulls pulled to nine points down in the fourth quarter, the lineup was reserves Marcus Fizer, Trenton Hassell, Tyson Chandler, Fred Hoiberg and A.J. Guyton.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune answered the questions the Chicago Bulls fans have been asking past couple of months.

Who is Jamal Crawford? How good can he be? When he returns, what player will he be?

"Is he a talent? Of course he is. But he has to get acclimated before he becomes effective. I wouldn't expect him to come in and average 10 assists. It's going to be a gradual working back until he gets in NBA shape and NBA hardness and plays in our system. You can watch it all you want. Until you play in it and conform to it, it's another story."

Jason Terry who grew up in Seattle and attended a rival high school has good things to say about Crawford: "If you think I'm fast in the open court, he's 10 times faster. Plus he's long enough to finish over big guys. If he's turned loose, you'd see a lot of things happening on the court."

Baron Davis also sees Crawford as a very talented player. "He hasn't had the opportunity to really play his type of game," Davis said. "He's a guy who can really make this Bulls team 10 times better. His penetration and his court vision are superb."

Johnson reported that Crawford has been into a rigorous rehabilitation program and he has put some great effort on it. Crawford is expected to return late February or early March. During this period, Crawford put on close to 20 pounds of muscle.

In our glorious country, there are many places your face can be seen if you really make it big. You can be on billboards, you can be on postage stamps, you can be on the post office wall.

But there is one place that is bigger than all the rest:

On the cover of a supermarket scandal sheet.

And this week Michael Jordan has made it big time.

When it became known Juanita Jordan had filed for divorce from Michael -- aka "M. Jeff Jordan" as he was identified in the petition -- it was like throwing bloody meat into a shark tank. It's "feeding frenzy" time:

Globe -- Headline: "Michael Jordan's Secret Sex Life." This rag gets top points for making Jordan the main subject of the cover, edging "Boozer Kathleen Turner Falls on Her Face." We see Michael smoking a big cigar (Freudians take note), seemingly gazing down at the subheads that read: "The wild orgies -- the porn queen -- the video he does not want you to see."

The porn queen is Kylie Ireland, and she is in all the rags, speaking of a night of bliss she says she shared with Michael in 1993. She's hardly mean-spirited about it, pointing out he "has a good heart," along with other attributes, although she says nothing about his jump shot.

That video, incidentally, involves a Jordan lookalike.

The National Enquirer -- Headline: "Michael Jordan's Mistress Tells All." In this one, M.J. is placed at the top of the cover, giving up the No. 1 spot to "Hillary Catches Bill Cheating Again!" Too bad they couldn't have worked these two stories together. This happens to be a different mistress, but like the porn queen, she remains quite fond of Michael's game.

Star -- Headline: "Wife's Own Story." Also on the top of the cover, losing out to "Matt Perry Is Dad of Liz Hurley Baby." And guess what, another young lady speaks of how Jordan "lived up to his reputation." I assume she means he knows how to go to his right.

National Examiner -- Headline: Well, actually this rag practically ignores Jordan, deciding to go with "How Laura Bush Saved Her Wild Girls." But I did find this inside: "Russell Crowe's once-tight butt is now gluteus MAXIMUS. Since breaking up with Meg Ryan, the Gladiator porked up so much, Tinseltown bosses are begging him to put down the fork so can play a leading man, instead of The Blob."

See, now that's the kind of stuff inquiring minds want to know.

Weekly World News -- Headline: Again, nothing about Jordan, but I must share this with you: "Blimp to Lower World's Fattest Man into Super Bowl."

What I love about this story is that the Super Bowl is being played in the Superdome, which has a roof.

But make sure you check out Page 30 for "Devil Toaster Ruined My Life." Who can't relate to that?

Jordan and you!

You may know that Jordan is becoming more notorious in yet another way -- like Oprah and Rosie, he will have his own magazine -- Jordan -- hitting the stands Feb. 8. However, in next Thursday's Cheap Seats, we plan on giving you an unauthorized version of what the first issue might look like and the stories it might contain.

And this is interactive. Send me suggestions for headlines that we might expect to see in that first issue. And if you make me laugh or groan or cry, your suggestion will be mentioned here -- making you famous!

The address: jgreene@orlandosentinel.com. Do it now before you forget

You know I'm right

We are going to get the Super Bowl we want to see ? Rams and Steelers.

Oddly enough, however, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a bigger lock to beat the New England Patriots today than the St. Louis Rams are to take out the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles do have a puncher's chance in that QB Donovan McNabb is capable of making the big plays to keep them in the game. Over in Pittsburgh, Patriots' QB Tom Brady will not know how to cope with that Steeler D.

Sunday buffet: If the Minnesota Vikings are looking in the college ranks for an offensive coordinator, why not give a call to UCF's Mike Kruczek, the man who knows QB Daunte Culpepper better than anyone? ... And come on, Jerry Jones, don't be talking to Bruce Coslet for your Cowboys offensive coordinator job. Pick up the phone and hire Galen Hall. ... Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers hired Giants defensive coordinator John Fox to rescue their team from its 1-15 season. Says Giants DE Michael Strahan about Fox: ?He's the type of guy you'd cut off your arm for.? Maybe so, Michael, but that coaching style has had limited success. ... Marc ?The Freak? Loyd from ?Coach & Co.? on 740 the Team (WQTM) had a strong interview Thursday with the WWF to fill a ring-announcer opening. They may call him back for a second visit to see how well he takes a steel chair to the head.

Tyson's needs

Cheap Seats Investigations got its hands on a ?things to do? list for the guy who will make all the preparations for Mike Tyson's next news conference. Here are some of the items:

About 250 folding chairs.

Podium.

Tranquilizer dart gun.

Sound system.

Straitjacket, size XXL.

About 250 accidental death release forms.

Two pounds ground round.

Hannibal Lecter mask.

3 Questions

How can the suits in Nevada even think about giving Mike Tyson a license to cross the street? Oh right, they license prostitutes, don't they, so I guess anything goes.

Why doesn't the PGA Merchandise Show hang around for one extra day and let golf fanatics inside to spend a gazillion dollars on clubs and balls and shoes and anything else they can carry out?

Ooh wah, ooh wah ? ooh wah, ooh wah ? ooh wah, ooh wah ? Why do fools fall in love?

Drat! Darts

Who remembers lawn darts, the game that combined darts with horseshoes by throwing big, heavy darts that would plunk into the ground? It was banned in the United States in 1988 after 6,700 lawn-dart injuries were reported in the previous decade. However, word has it that there is still some illegal lawn-dart playing going on right here in Central Florida.

Pun warning!

Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? He wanted to transcend dental medication.

Remember last week when 'Chicago Bulls management' dimmed the lights on the standing ovation for the return of Michael Jordan?  It turns out it wasn't Bulls management at all, with the decision coming from NBC who were broadcasting the game to the country.

"An NBA representative, taking a cue from NBC, decided how long of an ovation was enough and when to dim the lights," said Steve Schanwald, Chicago's vice president for operations. "If it was up to me, I would have let the ovation go on indefinitely until it burned itself out."

Against stronger opponents, this effort would not have been enough to push the Heat's season-high winning streak to six.

But there's greater margin for error against the woeful Chicago Bulls, and the Heat used much of it before pulling away late for a 92-79 win Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Ahead only 76-73 with less than two minutes left, the Heat got a three-pointer from Eddie Jones and a three-point play from Alonzo Mourning to improve to 14-26. Jones scored 10 of his 20 in the fourth, a quarter in which Miami outscored the Bulls 29-17.

``Eddie's been at the top of his game for the past couple of weeks,'' coach Pat Riley said. ``We didn't come ready to play. We turned the ball over incessantly.''

The Bulls (8-33) scored 28 points off 20 Heat turnovers, with 14 of those turnovers before halftime. Ron Artest had six steals. But Chicago -- which led by eight in the first half -- committed 19 turnovers, missed 8 of 17 free throws and scored just three points in the first 6:32 of the fourth quarter.

On a night in which Rod Strickland moved into seventh place on the NBA's all-time assist list, it was his scoring that rescued Miami.

Strickland, continuing to hit the mid-range jumper, delivered a season-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, to go with six assists and six rebounds.

``They were throwing a 2-3 zone against us, and Rod made two or three plays out of it on penetration,'' Riley said. ``Rod seems to get better and better.''

Mourning, shaking off frequent double-teams, committed four turnovers but produced 17 points, offsetting 19 from Bulls center Brad Miller.

Jones shot 6 of 16, but his three-pointer with 1:36 left ended a 5-0 Bulls spurt and put Miami ahead 79-73. He then stole Charles Oakley's pass, and Strickland threw the ball to Mourning, who dunked and hit the ensuing free throw.

``We're more confident and grinding out wins,'' Strickland said.

Although Eddie House has recovered from a thigh bruise, Riley played Mike James at backup point guard. James had four assists but committed three turnovers and shot 0 for 4.

The Heat moved within 5 1/2 games of the final Eastern Conference playoff berth but faces a difficult schedule in the next week. ``Every time we feel on top of the world, coach will put our record on the board,'' forward Brian Grant said.

Said Riley: ``Some teams are probably hearing footsteps, but I don't think they have any fear of us. They just have to look at our record.''

ALL-STAR LOBBYING

Riley said Eastern Conference coaches should name Mourning to the All-Star team, along with Philadelphia's Dikembe Mutombo (who's leading in fan voting at center) and Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal.

``The way Zo is playing right now, he's the best center in the Eastern Conference,'' Riley said. ``He deserves to be on the All-Star team not because he has kidney disease. He has revitalized himself. I see him as a dominant player again, quicker.''

Mourning said he wouldn't mind resting during All-Star weekend, but would play if invited. ``You can't turn down the opportunity,'' he said.

Riley blasted the notion the Heat might be better off missing the playoffs and getting a high lottery pick: ``That's an absolutely asinine, insane thought,'' he said. ``Anytime you preach not winning, I would walk out the door.''

Strickland moved past Lenny Wilkens into seventh place on the NBA's all-time assists list with 7,217. All-time leader John Stockton has 14,836.
``I would love to end up top five,'' Strickland said.

Maurice Cheeks is sixth at 7,392.

``When Rod was in his prime, he was virtually unstoppable from getting in the lane,'' Riley said.

Although Riley has said Anthony Carter is weeks from returning from sports-hernia surgery, Carter said he expects to return within two weeks, even though he hasn't been cleared to begin practicing.

Bulls guard Ron Mercer, who shot 0 for 6, left for good late in the second quarter with a bruised right knee.

The young (and old) Bulls are clearly frustrated, their 24 turnovers against Indiana at home sealing their fate in their second straight poor performance.  Ron Artest, who has arguably been the Bulls best player over the past month, has had enough.

"I've been here three years, and I've been losing for three years," said Artest.  "Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm bad luck. Maybe they should trade me, and everybody will stop being miserable."

Charles Oakley doesn't believe that a trade will help the team, stating that they are not an elite team (duh!) and there is no chance they will win six or seven on the trot.

"We don't take the game seriously enough," Oakley said. "Sometimes it's like a playground. Everybody wants to be the man. If we don't work to get better, this team is always going to be bad."

As always Jerry Krause had his excuse, stating that if the Bulls had a fit Eddie Robinson, Jamal Crawford and Ron Artest for the full season the Bulls would have a better record than their current 8-32 mark.  It is funny how other teams have injuries and suspensions as well yet they somehow survive, ey Jerry?