DEERFIELD, Illinois. -- In order to prepare for baseball Michael Jordan had to work on more than just his swing. His body, for instance. He reported to the minors at a trim 209 pounds, which is ideal for elevating from the free-throw line but not for belting home runs, so Jordan buffed up to 220. As we know, that didn't exactly send the baseballs into orbit.


Now that he has changed from stirrups to baggy shorts once again, Jordan is back down to basketball weight. But the requirements changed during his 18-month absence.


Anyone who saw Sunday's game against the Indiana Pacers knows the Chicago Bulls could really use Jordan at 250. It would help if he grew a few inches, too. The Bulls are missing a power forward, and if they plan to transform their season, they had better find one, or compensate for their lack of one.


Everyone remembers the seven-for-28 shooting and the 43 minutes played. Those were the historic stats recorded by Jordan in his comeback game. They weren't the most important stats, however. Not like the 20 rebounds grabbed by Pacers forward Dale Davis.


The good news for the Bulls is that, despite the job by Davis, they took the Pacers into overtime. The bad news is Davis isn't the most ferocious power forward among the contenders in the East.


Had Bulls' owner Jerry Reinsdorf come up with the $4-million-a-year power forward Horace Grant wanted before Jordan retired, imagine the Bulls now. They'd be the team of the '90s, not Orlando.


Now they have to plug in undersized Toni Kukoc at power forward. He hasn't demonstrated the desire or the fury needed to deal with the hip-checking in the paint.


Day two of Jordan's return was spent coming off the high of his debut and dealing with reality. The final 16 regular-season games are really an exhibition schedule for the Bulls. They must use the time to experiment with different lineup looks and allow nine new teammates to get accustomed to Jordan.


Kukoc needs these games more than Jordan. Since Kukoc must defer to Jordan and Pippen, he needs to discover a comfortable role. He wasn't successful Sunday.


Before he retired, Jordan was known for being hard on his teammates. With Kukoc, Jordan plans to use a softer touch. "I've got to talk to him," Jordan said. "That's what I tried to do yesterday. He kind of got rattled by the whole situation. But I told him I didn't play well, either. You're going to have bad games; it's how you rebound from those games that counts.''


Rebound. Funny Jordan should use that word.


n


The San Antonio Spurs have not missed a step without Dennis Rodman. They won last Thursday when Rodman arrived late for a game and subsequently did not play, and they beat Seattle 104-96 Monday in San Antonio, after Rodman, the NBA's leading rebounder, was placed on the injured list earlier in the day with a separated right shoulder following a motorcycle accident Sunday. He is expected to miss up to four weeks.


David Robinson scored 24 points and Chuck Person had 14 points and a season-high 11 rebounds for San Antonio.


Seattle, who had won five in a row, was led by Shawn Kemp's 23 points.


Hawks 106, Clippers 102. In Atlanta, Mookie Blaylock scored a career-high 35 points Monday night and Atlanta, trailing most of the night, rallied to beat the struggling Los Angeles Clippers.


The Clippers lost their 13th consecutive road game.


Mavericks 102, Cavaliers 100, 2OT. In Cleveland, Jamal Mashburn atoned for miserable shooting with 11 points in the second overtime, including the winning layup with 2.4 seconds left. Cleveland had one last chance to tie, but Tyrone Hill's hurried short hook missed everything at the buzzer.


Kings 91, Nuggets 89. In Sacramento, Walt Williams made a layup with 2.4 seconds left as Sacramento rallied to beat Denver. Mitch Richmond had 20 points for Sacramento, which scored the final six points of the game.


The Kings took a one-game lead over Denver for the eighth Western Conference playoff position.


(Newsday, AP)